Serbian prodco Adrenalin has confirmed that its original crime series Besa will be adapted for viewers in Southeast Asia. The rights to the format have been sold to Malaysia's Double Vision and Astro Shaw which signed a co-production deal with the Philippines' ABS-CBN last week.

Besa is a smart, gritty and intricate crime thriller, based on an original idea by Srđan Šaper and created by award-winning British writer Tony Jordan (Hustle, Life on Mars). The original version was co-produced by Adrenalin (Serbia), Red Planet Pictures (UK), PRVA (Serbia), Planet TV (Slovenia) and RTL (Croatia). It was sold across international markets, including the US where it aired on Walter Presents, and the format has been successfully adapted for Arabic audiences by MBC, airing on Shahid.

The Malaysian-Filipino version of the format will follow the dark journey of Gabriel Diaz, a Filipino man dragged into a secret underground mafia world and forced to kill to atone for accidently killing the daughter of a Malaysian gang boss.

Besa creator Srđan Šaper commented: “As a story that plays out across international borders, Besa is a format that lends itself well to such a co-production partnership. We are excited at the vision for this Malaysian-Filipino adaptation and at the commitment to the series from each of the three companies. We look forward to following its progress to the screen.”