CBS’s The Mentalist, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Primrose Hill Productions, is going to be adapted for Russian and Ukrainian television, The Hollywood Reporter shared today.
It will be a 16-part series directed by Alexei Muradov and starring Yehezkel Lazarov and Anastasiya Mikulchina.
In Russia, the series will air on Channel One and TV-3 and is expected to launch in late 2017. These TV networks are not available in Ukraine; the Ukrainian network that will air the Russian adaptation has yet to be announced.
The Mentalist ran on CBS for seven seasons, from 2008 to 2015. The original series aired on Russia’s TV-3 channel and is among its best-known and most popular foreign TV programs.
“We are keeping in mind fans of the original Mentalist,” producer Vlad Ryashin was quoted as saying by trade journal Booker’s Bulletin. “However, we’re making a project for the broadest audience possible.”
Ryashin shared that changes will be made to the Russian-language version to make sure it is “in line with the mentality and expectations of our viewers.”
The adaptation will be shot in Russia and in Odessa, Ukraine. This rare collaboration between Russia and Ukraine comes at a time of unfavorable relations – due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for Eastern Ukrainian rebels – between the two countries. Many Russian movies and TV series are even officially banned in Ukraine.