Munich, 04 June 2024. West Berlin 1988: A man under the alias “Scrooge McDuck” has been at the center of one of the most spectacular extortion cases in German criminal history, raising media attention around the globe. The series based on his life, I Am Scrooge has started its international journey even before its premiere in Germany this week, being sold by Beta Film to the US and Canada (MHz), Australia (SBS), Denmark (DR), Latvia (TET) and Hungary (RTL). Further negotiations with key clients are ongoing. The series is produced by award-winning Beta Film subsidiary Zeitsprung Pictures, the producers of Netflix’s German hit series Kleo, and will be release on RTL+ later this year.

I Am Scrooge will celebrate its world premiere opening this year's Seriencamp Festival in Cologne, Germany on June 5 in attendance of the real-life Arno Funke, who was labelled by The New Yorker as "The DuckTales Bandit", lead actor Friedrich Mücke (Liberame, Funeral for a Dog), who portrays him in the series, as well as Sonja Gerhardt (Deutschland 89, Ku’Damm 63). The series will premiere on RTL+ later this year.

I Am Scrooge (6 x 1 hour) is set in Berlin in 1988, when Arno must solve a conundrum: How can he overcome an existential crisis as a failing artist forced to spray-paint cars to make ends meet? A talented tinkerer, he uses his creativity to find his extraordinary new purpose in life: Building bombs in his kitchen and detonating them at night in high-end department stores as leverage for extortion. But evading the authorities proves to be more difficult. Detectives Çoban and Strack are hot on Arno's heals, who has escaped with half a million. The man fools the police under his new alias "Scrooge McDuck", leading to one of the most spectacular extortion cases in German criminal history.

The series is directed by Hannu Salonen (Empire Oktoberfest) and stars Friedrich Mücke (Liberame, Funeral for a Dog), Mišel Matičević (Babylon Berlin), Sonja Gerhardt (Deutschland 89, Ku’Damm 63) and Moritz Führmann (How to sell Drugs online (Fast)). I Am Scrooge is produced by Zeitsprung Pictures and Dominik Frankowski, Michael Souvignier, Till Derenbach. Beta Film handles international distribution.