Amazon Greenlights German Franchise-Based ‘Bibi & Tina’ Series

Amazon Prime Video has greenlit a first season of “Bibi & Tina,” a live-action series adaptation of the popular German franchise, which already boasts a number of films and an animated show.


The live-action family entertainment series, which will mark Amazon’s sixth German original series, follows the adventures of Bibi, a teenage witch, and her best friend, Tina. The show will reflect “the existing franchise’s central themes of the value of friendship, family, trust, tolerance, ecology and sustainability,” Amazon said in a statement.


The series was announced at a show-and-tell in London on Tuesday. “Bibi & Tina” will roll out exclusively on Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories.


DCM Pictures and Kiddinx Studios are producing the Prime Original series with Amazon Studios. Detlev Buck (“Same, Same but Different”), the creative mind and director of the four “Bibi & Tina” movies, is on board to direct the series. Gabriele Salomon is executive producing. Screenwriter Bettina Börgerding is set to be involved again.


“Bibi & Tina” will feature an all-new cast, and casting is set to start in the coming weeks. It will also boast new songs by Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer, who were already in charge of all four movie soundtracks.


“We are very proud to welcome ‘Bibi & Tina’ to the Prime Original series family with their own live-action series,” said Georgia Brown, director of Prime Original TV Series in Europe. “‘Bibi & Tina’ have been enchanting their fans for over 25 years, and we are especially thrilled that Detlev Buck returns to the franchise to create a heart-warming and entertaining Prime Original series for all generations.”


“Bibi & Tina” originally launched in 1991 as a spin-off radio play of Bibi Blocksberg. The animated series, which launched in 2004, recently celebrated its 90th episode.


The four “Bibi & Tina” movies have lured more than 6 million viewers of all ages. The third and fourth installment reached No. 1 at the German box office. Meanwhile, the soundtrack for “Bibi & Tina – Mädchen gegen Jungs” topped the German album charts in 2016.


Producers are Christoph Daniel, Marc Schmidheiny, Kirstin Wille and Sonja Schmitt. The series is co-produced by Joel Brandeis and Dario Suter.