Bell Media’s Crave adapting NBCU’s House of Villains format in French Canada

Bell Media-owned Canadian streaming service Crave has ordered a French-language adaptation of NBCUniversal-owned US comedy competition format House of Villains.

The Quebecois edition, titled La Maison Des Vilains, is being produced by Montreal-based Productions J in collaboration with Bell Media. Filming is currently underway and the first episodes are set to debut on Crave on August 19.

Hosted by TV presenter Maripier Morin and directed by Vincent Bald, the series features a number of Quebec reality TV personalities from shows such as Occupation Double, Les Traîtres, Loft Story and Survivor Québec, including Arnaud Nadeau, Dany Simard, Kevins-Kyle Lambert, Meriem Houla, Priscilla Lanni and Sébastien Tremblay.

The format puts contestants through a series of over-the-top physical and psychological challenges as they attempt to scheme, sabotage and manipulate their way through the game.

In the US, the original version of the format is produced by Irwin Entertainment and hosted by Joel McHale. It debuted in 2023 as an E! original before becoming a Peacock streaming original in its third season, which launched this April. Exec producers on the US version include John Irwin, Dave Kuba, Justin Rae Barnes, McHale, David Mills and Jessica O’Byrne.

The project is licensed internationally by NBCUniversal Formats, which is part of Universal Studio Group. New adaptations of the format are also coming to the Netherlands and to Telemundo in the US, said NBCUniversal.

“Like any great format, House of Villains draws audiences in with bold characters, genuine strategy, and hilarious comedy, making it utterly addictive,” said Suzanne Kendrick, VP of format sales and production at NBCUniversal Formats.

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