Istanbul-based distributor Madd Entertainment has released the international trailer for English-language drama “El Turco,” in which Turkish megastar Can Yaman plays a legendary historical figure that bridges Turkey with the Western world.
The hotly anticipated six-episode “El Turco” series — featuring a starry cast of actors from nine different countries and combining history, action-adventure and romance – is set to rollout today, March 21, on Voyo in Romania, on IVI in Russia, and on Globoplay Brazil. A ten-minute teaser will air today on Mediaset Infinity in Italy where the full release date is still being decided. It will then go out March 23 on Teleonce in Honduras and on April 2 on Gaín in Turkey. Subsequently the show will launch April 18 on Starz in the MENA region. Other international playdates are still being decided.
In “El Turco,” which is produced by Turkey’s Ay Yapim, Yaman plays 17th Ottoman soldier Hasan Balaban, who was wounded during the Turkish army’s campaign to conquer Vienna in 1683 and ended up some 200 kilometers away in the Italian Alpine village of Moena. Nicknamed “El Turco” by the villagers, he led the locals to a clamorous revolt against unfair taxes that made him a local hero.
“Now, Moena is a ski resort, but many people there still feel Turkish. There is a Turkish week, they pull out Turkish flags and there’s a statue of this man who’s celebrated as a hero,” Yaman told Variety during a one-on-one interview panel at the Mipcom TV market in October.
“When you get to see that, you are so impressed. The fact that it all happened in Italy, where I’ve lived, and that there was this hero from the Ottoman Empire … When I first read the script, I got really excited,” he added.
Besides Yaman in the title role, the “El Turco” cast comprises Will Kemp (“The Christmas Waltz”), Greta Ferro (“Io e mio fratello”), David Nykl (“Sleepers”), Kieran O’Reilly (“Vikings”), Veronica Ferres (“Berlin, I Love You”) and Maddalena Aragão (“Strawberries With Sugar”).
The series is written by Kerem Deren and Çişil Hazal Tenim and directed by Uluç Bayraktar (“Ten Days of a Bad Man”). The production design is by Domenico Sica (“Wonder Woman”) and costumes are by Carlo Poggioli (“The New Pope”).