Fans of South Africa’s first ever and longest running soapie, Egoli – Place of Gold! which comes to an end at the end of March 2010, will be heartened to hear that an Egoli movie will shortly go into production.
The contract for the as yet untitled Egoli movie was signed this week by pay-TV broadcaster M-Net and Brigadiers/Franz Marx Films, as well as Nu Metro, who will be distributing the film.
Neither broadcaster nor producers will reveal any details of the movie’s storyline other than it will be set in and around Johannesburg and feature a whole host of the sopaie’s most popular characters.
Burgert Muller from Franz Marx Films believes that the film will lure new audiences. “Egoli viewers are going to want to see what’s happening with their favourite characters, and how the movie complements the series. But those who have never seen an episode of Egoli, will be able to enjoy a local film that is filled with action, adventure, romance and intrigue.”
M-Net’s Head of General Entertainment, Theo Erasmus, notes that extending the Egoli brand makes sense. “In its 18th year of existence, Egoli has become a strong brand with a huge fan base. Even though M-Net has decided, in terms of its bigger programme strategy for the future, to end broadcasting the soap next year, we believe that there’s a big existing – and possibly even future – audience who would love to enjoy the brand in other formats, on other platforms.”
Egoli – Place of Gold is broadcast every weekday on M-Net at 18:30, and is repeated the following morning at 10:30.
