Netflix has confirmed that it has ordered a second season of the German-produced gangster series Crooks. Season one of the series was released globally on April 4th, 2024 and hit the Top Five of the streamer's non-English TV charts in several countries and briefly charted in the United States.
Here is the official logline of the series:
Charly lives a peaceful life with his family in Berlin, until his dark past catches up with him. Old "acquaintances" threaten his family's life and force him to work a heist of a valuable coin. Joseph, a clan driver from Vienna, is supposed to take the loot to Austria. But the well-thought-out plan fails, a shoot-out ensues and someone dies. Inevitably, the fates of Charly and Joseph collide. They must flee and get Charly's family out of danger. During the attempt to save what is important to them, the two crooks must assert themselves against the clans from Berlin, Vienna and Marseille. Both can only succeed if they rely on their friendship. An adventurous and action-packed road trip across three national borders begins.
At the same time, it appears the streamer has pulled the plug on The Grimm Reality, a series from Dark producer Wiedemann and Berg and The Gryphon co-producer Dog Haus Films. The series was apparently based in part on the Brothers Grimm fairytales of the 18th and 19th centuries and was described as a "fairy tale urban fantasy thriller."
The series was created by Till Kleinert (Der Samurai) and Dog Haus’ Erol Yesilkaya, who is also a producer and writer. The cast included Hyuan Wanner, Patrick Isermeyer, Eidin Jalali and Dennis Schuermann.
Neither Netflix or producers have responded to requests for a comment, but I was told on background from someone at a rival European-centric streaming platform that the show was being shopped to other streamers and the unofficial word was that Netflix executives felt the project - which has apparently finished production but has been in the middle of final editing - wasn't a "good fit" for the global streamers content plans moving forward.
The market for German-produced scripted projects overall is in a bit of freefall overall right now. Comcast-owned Sky Deutschland halted its original production slate last summer and that was followed by Paramount+'s decision to halt its original German productions as well as pull many existing programs off the streamer.
In the months since, HBO Max has made a similar move and the struggling Starz Play streamer shut down entirely. Other streamers are refocusing their content spend by pursuing co-productions, including the recent announcement that Apple TV+ has signed on to the fast-paced ZDF medical drama KRANK Berlin.