Trailer for the Middle Eastern crime drama series KARANTINA starring James Franco

A trailer has been released for the Middle Eastern crime series Karantinahero James Francoand written by Shades of blue Creator Adi Hasak. The series will be sold for the first time at Mipcom in Cannes this week. Hasak told Deadline that he hopes the “groundbreaking” crime film “does for MENA what Fauda did for Israel and Squid Game did for Korea.”

Based on the German series TempelFranco plays an American hidden by the FBI in Beirut who opened a club called the Miami Rainbow Club, a “taste of Americana,” according to Hasak.

Franco stars alongside a cast of actors from the MENA region. “The show’s protagonist is Yaqoub Al Farhan as Dahab, who is released from prison and promises his paraplegic wife and teenage daughter that he will never return to the world of crime, instead taking a job as a care worker for the elderly. But when his daughter’s expensive violin is destroyed by a gang that wants to evict his family and gentrify the area, Dahab’s life takes a turn for the worse as he tries to raise enough money to buy a new violin. Joining Al Farhan are Reham Alkassar, Yasmina El Abd, Cynthia Khalifeh, Nicolas Mouawad and Earl Cave.

Joining Dan March’s Dynamic Television, Hasak said he thought about setting the show in Detroit and pitching it to US buyers before opting for MENA. Asacha Media Group and MBC are also attached.

“The themes are so universal when you think about gentrification and a father living at the bottom of the social ladder,” Hasak added. “So this is a family-focused show, a crime show.”

Hasak said he was inspired by the work of Capernaum director Nadine Labaki, the first Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar, and that he was in awe of her “Lebanese films in the style of Italian neorealism that do not condescend but offer a realistic perspective and sincere of the working poor.” While some MENA films have achieved global acclaim, he hopes Karantina will be one of the first television programs from the region to be a global hit. “You’ve never seen it on television and I know they can “, he added.

Check out the trailer for the series below and we’ll let you know when the release date is released.