yes Studios and London and LA-based Paper Entertainment – one of the production companies behind AppleTV+’s Emmy Award-winning series Tehran – have announced a deal to develop comedy-drama Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee for an English-language adaptation in the UK and US called HONEY BOYS. 

HONEY BOYS tells the entertaining story of Ben, a struggling actor based in London, who returns to his hometown in Cornwall in the wake of his father’s passing. Confronted with the financial struggles of the family farm, now run by his sister, he and three childhood friends decide to start an escorting business to make ends meet. But as they encounter clients from all walks of life, what started as a short-term fix quickly becomes far more meaningful than they ever could have expected… As they come to understand the complexity and variety of their clients’ needs, their experiences rock their pre-conceived ideas about romantic love, female sexuality, and their own masculinity. 

Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee was created and written by Dani Rosenberg and Tom Shoval, both of whom also directed the 13 x 40’ original series, which was produced by yes TV and July August Productions for yes TV. The title has already received a French-language adaptation, Escort Boys (6 x 40’), which was directed by Ruben Alves and produced by Oberkampf Productions and Story Nation Productions. It premiered on Prime Video and will launch on TF1 in France today, 2nd December. A second season greenlight for Escort Boys was recently announced. yes, Studios has international distribution rights for the original Israeli-language series and its format. 

Sharon Levi, managing director at yes Studios, comments: “We are absolutely thrilled to have signed this deal and are most excited about HONEY BOYS. Julien and the team have an incredible reputation, so we are delighted that our format is in such good hands. We look forward to working with Paper Entertainment over the coming months in taking this development to the next stage.”  

Julien Leroux, CEO & founder of Paper Entertainment, adds: “yes Studios is internationally recognised as home to some of the best-scripted formats in the industry and Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee further endorses that position. It’s a brilliant and contemporary telling of an age-old story, with finely drawn, compelling characters and a huge amount of warmth, light humour and heart. It’s a perfect story for us to tell and we are excited to work with yes Studios in developing HONEY BOYS as an English-language version of the series for the international marketplace.”