Korea’s Something Special Options Hostages

By Kristin Brzoznowski (January 19, 2023) 

Seoul-based Something Special has optioned the award-winning drama series Hostages from Israel’s Armoza Formats, marking the company’s first foray into the acquisition of scripted formats.

The Israeli crime thriller follows a renowned female surgeon about to perform a routine operation on the president when her family is taken hostage. She is ordered to sabotage the procedure and kill the president—or her family will die.

The series was created by Rotem Shamir, Omri Givon and Yezira Ivrit.

Hostages originally aired on Channel 10 in Israel in 2013 and has since been adapted in India on Hotstar and in the U.S. on CBS. The finished tapes have sold into, among other countries, the U.K. (BBC Four), Germany (RTL Crime), France (Canal+), Brazil (Globosat), Australia (SBS) and Ukraine. 

Something Special’s Jin Woo Hwang, president and executive producer, and InSoon Kim, executive VP and head of content, said: “We are very excited to work with the Armoza Formats team to bring a local version of Hostages to Korea and are finalizing the production details very soon. This is Something Special’s first scripted format acquisition, and we are looking forward to expanding into the scripted space as our company goes into our fourth year.”

Adi Brukner, sales executive for Asia, Africa, Southern Europe, Benelux, Canada and MEA at Armoza Formats, said: “We are thrilled that Something Special has chosen our award-winning format Hostages as their first scripted adaptation for the Korean market. Adding to the format’s global success, this new commission is further proof that a good story can travel anywhere.”