Cineflix Rights is partnering with Mark Fennessy’s recently launched indie Helium Pictures to bring thrilling new Australian drama Last King of The Cross to audiences worldwide.
Last King of The Cross (10x60’) which has been greenlit by streaming service Paramount+ in Australia, is an operatic story of two immigrant brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organise the street but lose each other across their ascent to power. An elevated serialised drama, Last King of The Cross tracks John Ibrahim’s rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney’s Kings Cross: a mini-Atlantic City, barely half a mile long with every form of criminality on offer.
Inspired by John Ibrahim’s best-selling autobiography Last King of The Cross, the series is by multi award-winning writer/director Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wolf Creek, The Duel), who will also direct.
James Durie, Head of Scripted, Cineflix Rights said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Mark and Helium on Last King of The Cross—a truly authentic depiction of gangster life, set against the backdrop of one of the most iconic locations on the planet. Based around classic themes of family bonds being tested, criminal empire-building, and corruption which echo some of the most successful movies and TV shows of recent years, we believe it has huge potential with international audiences.”
Mark Fennessy, HELIUM Founder added: “John Ibrahim’s story is an incredible tale of the violence and brutality behind the infamous Kings Cross of the 1990s. But the soul and foundation of Last King of The Cross lies within its rich characters and their relationships, and, in particular, two immigrant brothers with a fractured sense of identity, culture and family - who are forced to the limits as they find out that blood is thicker than water, but you can drown in both. I am looking forward to working with Cineflix Rights to share this amazing tale with viewers around the world.”