Sony Pictures Television is expanding into drama production in Russia with local versions of The Good Wife, Doc Martin and Mad Dogs as the country continues to see remakes of popular foreign shows.
SPT’s Russian production company Lean-M struck a development deal with national network NTV to produce local adaptations of CBS hit show The Good Wife (Khoroshaya Zhena) and British crime drama Mad Dogs (Besheny Psy), both of which are set to go into production next year.
“Mad Dogs and The Good Wife are both very interesting formats, and we are happy that they will be developed for NTV by Lean-M, a company that is well-known in Russia for its quality adaptations of foreign formats for the Russian market,” said Timur Weinstein, NTV’s general producer.
The Good Wife is popular in Russia, while Mad Dogs is relatively unknown.
Lean-M will also produce Doctor Martov, a Russian adaptation of U.K. Doc Martin, for the country’s largest television network, Channel One. The 16-episode series is set to air in 2017.
Also, state-run broadcaster Rossiya 1 commissioned The Midwives (Akusherka), a four-hour limited series adaptation of SPT’s 2001 TV movie Midwives.
SPT’s new projects in Russia come as remakes of popular foreign shows are on the rise. Just recently, the local remake of The Mentalist was announced.
SPT’s most successful Russian project so far has been The Voronins, a local adaptation of U.S. comedy Everybody Loves Raymond, which has become the country’s longest-running comedy series.
A remake of The Good Wife has also been produced in South Korea.
Oct. 15, 5:20 a.m. Updated to correct the final line on remakes elsewhere.
