Constantin Film Bets on Streaming to Revive $50M Fantasy Epic
Constantin Film’s ambitious $50 million fantasy project, designed as both a TV series and a feature film, is now looking to the small screen to recover from a disappointing theatrical debut. War of the Kingdoms is, by all accounts, a high-stakes gamble.
The epic German fantasy series, which Fremantle showcased at last month’s London Screenings and will present at Series Mania’s inaugural buyers upfront event, is among the most costly and ambitious productions to emerge from Europe.
Adapted from Wolfgang Hohlbein’s 1986 novel Hagen von Tronje by Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert—the duo behind Sky Germany’s Pagan Peak—the series reimagines the classic German Nibelung saga. This legendary tale, featuring dragons, dwarves, and magic, served as a key inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and, by extension, Game of Thrones. For a non-English European production, its scale is unprecedented, with a budget exceeding $50 million.
To make the economics viable, Constantin Film pioneered a hybrid production model, shooting both a feature-length film, Hagen, and a six-part TV series, War of the Kingdoms, simultaneously. Hagen debuted in German cinemas last year, while the series is set to premiere on German streaming platform RTL+ in late 2025.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, Constantin’s Martin Moszkowicz, an executive producer on the project, emphasized that this dual-production approach was both financially and creatively strategic, enabling the filmmakers to craft two distinct versions of the same story. Unlike Constantin’s past film-TV hybrids—such as the miniseries adaptations of Downfall and The Baader Meinhof Complex—this project was designed from the outset as two separate narratives. “The storytelling perspective in the series is very different from that of the cinematic version,” Moszkowicz noted. “They were produced together but exist as independent works.”
Breaking from past adaptations of the Nibelungenlied—including Fritz Lang’s 1924 silent epic and a 2004 TV film starring Kristanna Loken and a young Robert Pattinson—this version flips the traditional narrative. Hagen and War of the Kingdoms reframe the tale by positioning Hagen, typically the villain, as the protagonist, while Siegfried, the usual hero, is depicted as a dangerously charismatic populist who destabilizes the kingdom. Dutch actor Gijs Naber (Blackbook, The Story of My Wife) takes on the role of Hagen, with Jannis Niewöhner (Berlin Station) portraying Siegfried. The cast also includes Lilja van der Zwaag, Rosalinde Mynster, and Dominic Marcus Singer.
Constantin’s innovative approach, however, faces a tough test. The film Hagen struggled at the German box office, attracting fewer than 178,000 viewers and generating just $2 million—a disappointing result for a project intended to be a major spectacle. Now, War of the Kingdoms’ debut at Series Mania presents an opportunity to turn its streaming release into a success story, salvaging what cinema audiences didn’t deliver.
Fremantle has previously found success with Constantin and Amazon Studios’ We Children From Bahnhof Zoo (2021), a series adaptation of the infamous biography Christine F., previously brought to life in Uli Edel’s 1981 film. However, War of the Kingdoms, conceived during the height of the global streaming boom, enters the market at a time when buyers are increasingly prioritizing cost-effective procedurals and action thrillers over expensive, high-risk fantasy epics.
Ahead of Series Mania, Fremantle has yet to announce any major distribution deals for the series. For Constantin, this marks a critical test of whether premium European fantasy can still capture a global audience—or if the market’s shifting tides will leave its grand ambitions stranded.
