Why the filming of revenge thriller Huntington in Cape Town helped encourage French company Canal+'s bid for MultiChoice.
The revenge thriller, directed by John Patton Ford, stars Glen Powell , Margaret Qualley , Jessica Henwick , and Hollywood legend, Ed Harris.Shooting in Cape Town has allowed the company to bring below-the-line production costs to within a $7.87-million budget — $5-million less than the original budgeted for locations in Toronto, Canada and Sydney, Australia.
The Huntington production employs about 305 South African crew members, including 45 local cast and 1,876 extras. Besides the film stars, only four heads of department are not South African: the director of photography, the editor, production designer and the first assistant director.Africa is central to Canal+’s long-term strategy, with a young and growing subscriber base.
Netflix has also made a big shift towards international productions, driven by the need to appeal to a bigger market and save costs. This year, the streaming giant has dedicatedto international productions. This first-ever move prioritises creating locally-focused shows and movies for overseas markets or licensing content made outside the U.S.
“, it is the same content that we have on our set-top boxes. Most of them are now connected. Even if I have a direct-to-home subscriber, our set-top boxes have exactly the same offering.” Besides its DStv, Showmax, SuperSport and MNet media companies, MultiChoice’s diversified offering includes medical and security , cybersecurity , and sports betting .
Canal+ has already invested €1.2-billion in MultiChoice. It currently owns a 45.2% stake in MultiChoice, based on its total issued ordinary shares of 442,512,678., in which they announced that the all-cash offer of R125 per share for the remaining shares of the South African media group had been accepted as “fair and reasonable”. The offer, which closes on 25 April 2025, is subject to approval by relevant authorities.