Shahid VIP, the world’s leading Arabic SVOD platform, has announced the regional debut of its new international series, “Billy the Kid” In its first co-production with MGM International Television Productions.

The epic romantic drama from Michael Hirst (“Vikings”) is available dubbed in Arabic, along with Arabic and English-language subtitles. Starring the British actor Tom Blyth (“Benediction”) as the famous American outlaw, “Billy the Kid” premiered in the United States on 24th April on EPIX.

The series is the first of a new multi-year deal between Shahid VIP and MGM International Television Productions to develop and co-produce original international series. One episode will be released every week, broadcast alongside the episode’s airing internationally.

Known as one of US’ most notorious outlaws, “Billy the Kid” is inspired by the character who lived between the years 1859 and 1881. The series unites drama and action with romance and suspense.

History shows that Billy’s anarchic lifestyle was the “talk of the town”, with everyone wanting to hear about the tales and rumours surrounding the infamous outlaw, to the point where his stories and adventures became the headlines of multiple local newspapers at the time.

The stories mainly focused on his upbringing, from his humble Irish roots to his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond. Billy grew in notoriety during this war and took part in major criminal activities, some of which included many prominent figures that were affiliated with law enforcement.

Billy the Kid is created, written, executive produced by Hirst (Vikings) who was also the series’ showrunner.  Executive producing alongside Hirst are Donald De Line for De Line Pictures, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television and Otto Bathurst, and Toby Leslie for One Big Picture. Otto Bathurst (Halo) directed the first two episodes. The series was commissioned by EPIX and is produced by EPIX Studios, and MGM International Productions, in association with NENT’s Viaplay and internationally distributed by MGM.

Shahid and Shahid VIP are part of MBC GROUP, the largest and leading media company in the Mena region. – TradeArabia News Service