NBC to remake Turkish drama

US broadcaster NBC has greenlit a pilot of a Turkish drama, Game of Silence.

LA-based prodco Intrigue secured the pilot commitment, which comes with a series penalty, with the Comcast-owned network.

Intrigue will now produce the pilot alongside Carol Mendelsohn Productions, writer Hugins and Sony Pictures Television. CSI alum Mendelsohn switched from CBS Television Studioes to SPT earlier this year.

Intrigue’s VP, development Kelly Pancho facilitated the pilot deal alongside Catherine Stryker, who is head of sales at Game of Silence rights distributor Global Agency.

Game of Silence follows the story of four men that vow revenge after a dark childhood secret comes back to haunt them when a friend is murdered in jail.

It aired in Turkey in 2012 on Show TV, and has since been taken to the States. Prolific Turkish drama prodco TIMS Productions produced the show under its original title, Suskunlar. TIMS’s producer Timur Savci will executive produce the US pilot.

“Global Agency has been representing TIMS Productions for several years and I have seen their productions win over audiences worldwide,” said Global Agency’s Stryker.

US producer Intrigue previously adapted Telemundo unscripted format Operation Repo in the US. Its president, Tariq Jalil, said of Game of Silence: “We love the original format and think Carol and David have a fantastic creative vision that will offer a new perspective to the legal genre for US audiences.”

NBC’s move shows Turkish dramas remain hot in Hollywood. Last year, Fox announced plans for a US version The End, which Eccho Rights sells internationally.

CBS also gave a pilot order to competition reality series Keep Your Light Shining, which Global also represents internationally.