Bravo Picks Up TV Rights for Sundance Documentary ‘The Queen of Versailles’

Bravo has acquired TV rights for “The Queen of Versailles,” a documentary about a billionaire timeshare developer and his wife’s quest to build a 90,000-square-foot mansion

Bravo has picked up TV rights for "The Queen of Versailles," a controversial documentary about a billionaire timeshare developer and his wife's quest to build a 90,000 square-foot-mansion in Florida, and will air it in 2013, the cable network said Tuesday.

Also read: Sundance Deals: Magnolia Pictures Picks Up 'Queen of Versailles'

The feature-length documentary, which screened at Sundance, shows David and Jackie Siegel as they go about building the largest house in America, modeled on the Versailles palace. The movie, filmed over three years, chronicles the Siegels' quest as the financial crisis takes hold, harming their business and endangering their plans.

Lauren Greenfield won best director at Sundance for the documentary.

"I am pleased to be working with Bravo to present 'The Queen of Versailles' to a mass TV audience," Greenfield said in a statement. "It is rare that Bravo acquires a feature-length documentary, but this seems like a perfect match and there could not be a more interesting audience for this film."

Controversy accompanied "The Queen of Versailles" to the festival. Siegel filed a defamation suit against the filmmakers, claiming that the promotional materials for the movie mischaracterized him and damaged his reputation.

Comments