Leading independent distributor All3Media International has a new scripted format deal in South Korea for strong female lead Scandinavian thriller Black Widows.
Originally produced by Moskito Television Oy for Nelonen in Finland, Black Widows is heading to South Korea as producer the Soul Creative acquires adaptation rights. The original version of Black Widows ran for two seasons in Finland and won three local Golden Venla Awards.
The series is a darkly humorous drama about three best friends who, having been extremely unhappy for years, make a life-changing decision – to get rid of their husbands once and for all. This Asian deal is the latest adaptation for the show and adds to remakes across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Black Widows joins a host of All3Media International’s scripted formats adapted in Asia. Kafas, the award-winning Indian adaptation of The Forge’s Dark Money, streamed on SonyLiv and recently secured ‘Best Scripted Format’ at C21’s 2024 International Format Awards, adding to its ‘Best TV Format Adaptation (Scripted) in Asia’ award at the 2024 ContentAsia Awards. Marzi, the Indian version of Two Brothers Pictures’ thriller Liar, aired on Voot in India, with the second season of Mithya, based on Two Brothers Pictures thriller Cheat recently returned to ZEE 5. Additional scripted format successes include a 30 episodes commission of Miss S, a Chinese adaptation of Every Cloud Productions’ much-loved period detective drama Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. The series was commissioned by Tencent and aired on HBO Asia across 29 territories, HBO in the US as well as travelling to Canada, Australia, Japan and Korea.
Ziran (Tony) Tang, VP Sales Asia at All3Media International, commented, “The South Korean adaptation of “Black Widows” marks the seventh adaptation of the title globally. Premium scripted formats continue to be in strong demand in Asia, and we’re delighted to build further on our success in the region as we head to ATF. This twist-laden female led thriller has proved its universal appeal, having already found fantastic homes around the world and we can’t wait to see how the Soul Creative bring it to screen for a local audience. This latest adaptation joins an impressive slate of our scripted formats travelling to Asia and we’re extremely proud to have a portfolio offering a diverse range of scripted formats developed by some of the industry’s most acclaimed creative talents. In addition to being hits in their original territories, many of our formats now also bring a proven track record in numerous other territories, which only increases their appeal for broadcasters looking for high-quality, tried-and-tested ideas to adapt for their local audience.”
Yoo Jin Yoo, CEO at the Soul Creative commented, “We are truly excited to be working with All3Media International on the Korean adaptation of Black Widows. We believe a proven story like Black Widows will give us the edge to win audience here and abroad in a highly competitive market. In addition to working with All3Media on their incredible formats, we look forward to expanding our collaborations in the near future.
