DCM, the Berlin-based German co-producer of Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut Quartet, is to produce Detlev Buck’s second children’s film after his 2007 adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s Hands Off Mississippi.

Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily, DCM’s Marc Schmidheiny explained that a film version of the children’s favourites Bibi & Tina is set to be produced with Boje Buck Produktion next summer.

This will be the second time that DCM has worked with Boje Buck after co-producing the Christian Ulmen comedy Jonas, and Buck’s second film set in the equine world after Mississippi, which took over $4.4m (€3.4m) at the German box office.

The adventures of Bibi Blocksberg and her horse-riding friend Tina von Martinshof have been followed by countless budding female equestrians since 1991 through the audiocassettes (with an estimated 140m units sold), an animated TV series and, more recently, an internet portal. DCM have acquired the film rights for Bibi & Tina from Kiddinx

“We are pleased to be working with Buck because he has a special way of looking at things and great charm,” co-managing director Christoph Daniel.

News of this project comes just as principal photography was completed last month on Pascal Chaumeil’s Nick Hornby adaptation A Long Way Down, starring Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Aaron Paul.

DCM is co-producer on the film with Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey’s Wildgaze Films, and plans to release the film via its in-house distribution arm in 2013.

The company had been introduced to Dwyer by Jeremy Thomas with whom DCM executive produced Kon-Tiki - for release in German cinemas on March 21, 2013.

In addition, DCM is planning to produce Lancelot von Naso’s next as-yet-untitled feature project in 2013 after making its first foray into film production with his award-winning Iraq war drama Ceasefire (Waffenstillstand) in 2009.

Meanwhile, the DCM team currently has five Stateside projects “at different stages of development” which it is looking at in partnership with ex-Paramount John Lesher based in Los Angeles.

“Apart from the German projects, we are also interested in the English language market and want to keep an eye on new upcoming talent,” DCM’s Dario Suter said.

Topics