Apple orders a remake of the the Israeli Drama ‘When Heroes Fly’ for the American market.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
The Israeli action TV series “When Heroes Fly” that won rave reviews on Netflix is being remade into an American version for Apple, according to an update from the entertainment news website Hollywood Reporter.
Originally produced in 2018 by Israel’s Keshet TV network, the series won the award for the best television series at the first Canne International Series Festival in April 2018.
“When Heroes Fly” beat over nine other TV shows, including another from Israel, for the Best Series award.
That caught the attention of Netflix, and the series was upgraded into a 10-part thriller for Netflix with the dialog in Hebrew, English and Spanish with subtitles.
“When Heroes Fly” tells the tale of four friends and veterans of an IDF special forces unit — who served together in the Second Lebanon War — reuniting for one last operation aimed at finding the former lover of one of them, who happens to be the sister of another.
The story covers the saga of how several years after their return to civilian life they head off to to rescue the sister who went missing in the jungles of South America.
The series remake will be adapted for the American TV screen by writer and producer Mark Boal, who is known for his award-winning film “The Hurt Locker.”
The new series will be renamed “Echo 3” and will also be in 10 parts and set in South America.
The central figure in Echo 3 is the character Amber Chesborough, a brilliant young scientist who goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border. Her brother and her husband, both military veterans with complicated pasts, go through adventure and drama to rescue her against the “explosive backdrop of a secret war,”
The series will be Keshet’s second drama to be picked up by Apple, following its production of the show “Suspicion,” starring Uma Thurman, which is based on Keshet’s successful tv series “False Flag.”