Poland has ordered a local-language remake of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s hit TV comedy series “Servant of the People,” the Hollywood Reporter revealed on Thursday.
The show, which will be presented in Poland under the title ‘Sluga Narodu’, was commissioned by the Polsat channel and will reportedly follow the same plot as the original series, which tells the story of a high school history teacher who unexpectedly becomes president after his rant against corruption goes viral on social media.
“This is a hugely powerful script – a comedy, but one that spoke so deeply to the Ukrainian people that it changed the course of political history in that country, and subsequently the world. Naturally we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Polish version,” said Berkin Nalbantlı, chief of Sales and Acquisitions for Swedish television group Eccho Rights, which owns the international rights to the show.
The Ukrainian version of “Servant of the People” which starred Vladimir Zelensky and ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2019, plus one cinematic feature film, was a massive hit in its home country. It became an example of life imitating art, launching a political career for Zelensky, who formed a political party named after the show and went on to win the 2019 presidential election in Ukraine.
Ater Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine, Zelensky found himself in the global spotlight, and subsequently so did his comedy series, which has since become available in a number of countries and on major streaming platforms including Netflix.
Eccho Rights has described the show, initially created and produced by Zelensky himself, as “a historic piece of television” and “an important document of where Zelensky comes from.”