Cannes-Winning Israeli TV Series To Be Adapted for American Audiences

Cannes-Winning Israeli TV Series To Be Adapted for American Audiences

“When Heroes Fly,” the Israeli hit drama that took best series at the inaugural TV festival at Cannes in April, is being adapted into English for audiences in the United States.

Variety reports that Keshet International, the global production and distribution arm of Israeli media company Keshet, which produced the original show, will also be developing the American version.

The original Hebrew-language series premiered in Israel in May and shattered records, garnering close to half a million viewers, a very high rating for a scripted series in Israel.

“When Heroes Fly” was created by Omri Givon, co-creator of the Israeli show “Hostages” based on a book by Amir Gutfreund. The drama follows four friends, veterans of a special Israeli military commando unit from the 2006 Lebanon War, who reunite to rescue the girlfriend of one of the commandos following her abduction by a cartel in the Colombian jungle.

“This show immediately jumped out to us as something that could be fairly easily redeveloped because, ultimately, it’s a story about friendship — a love story about friendship,” said Peter Traugott, Keshet Studios’ head of scripted.

Two other Israeli TV shows and a book by an Israeli journalist about the Mossad have also been picked up recently for adaptation to the US market.

According to Deadline Hollywood, HBO is teaming up with Keshet International to turn “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations,” Ronen Bergman’s book about the Mossad, into an English-language miniseries to be shot in Israel.

HBO is also adapting “Euphoria,” the 2012 Israeli teen drama that followed the lives of a group of teenagers in 1990s Israel. The original series aired on HOT and was created by Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin and Tmira Yardeni, who also serve as executive producers on the US version. The Hollywood Reporter describes the series as a story of “drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love and friendship.”

Netflix announced in a trailer during the Tony awards that its adaptation of “The Good Cop,” based on a 2015 Israeli TV series by the same name, will be available on the streaming service this fall. Tony Danza and singer and actor Josh Groban will star in the adapted version.

(via Israel21c)

[Photo: Israel21c]