A promotional photo for “Bad Boy.” Photo: Provided

Netflix has acquired streaming rights for a Hebrew-language scripted drama series titled “Bad Boy” from original “Euphoria” creator and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Ron Leshem and Hagar Ben-Asher, it was announced on Tuesday.

The streaming giant will premiere the eight-part series globally in 190 territories next year after its initial showing on Israel’s HOT broadcasting network, which began airing the show last week. “Bad Boy” is inspired by a true story and is about a troubled teen named Dean Scheinman who is sent away to a brutal juvenile detention facility, where he must rely on his humor and wit to survive. He befriends another teen prisoner named Zoro, who is serving time for murder. Twenty years later, Dean is a successful comedian who wants to keep his youth imprisonment a secret.

“After awakening to a horrific act of violence on his first morning inside, Dean quickly becomes entangled in the inner workings of the system. What’s the price of silence? Who can you trust? How much of yourself can you protect in a place designed to break you?” read a synopsis of the show provided by the Toronto International Film Festival, where the series made its world premiere in September 2023.

“As Dean and Zoro’s paths begin to intertwine, each boy will use what they have — humor, notoriety, a world-weary wisdom — to stay alive. As an adult, Dean maintains a career as a successful comedian, but his traumatic past threatens to resurface and destroy the life he’s built beyond the walls of the detention center.”

“Bad Boy” is the first international co-production from North Road Company, which produced and co-financed the series with Sipur, who serve as co-studios on the project. HOT and Tedy Productions are producing. Leshem, whose credits include “Valley of Tears,” is showrunner and Ben-Asher serves as writer-director.

Leshem previously described the series as “the next ‘Euphoria.'” He was the screenwriter and producer of the original Israeli “Euphoria,” and a writer and executive producer on Sam Levinson’s remake in the US for HBO, which starred Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi.

Leshem told Deadline that “Bad Boy” had been in the works for two decades, and the show’s plot was inspired by his time as an investigative journalist when he was assigned to a story in a juvenile prison. Leshem also got help from comedian Daniel Chen who, like the show’s main character, was committed to a juvenile facility as a teenager before becoming a comedian. Chen is listed as co-creator and co-executive producer of “Bad Boy” on SIPUR’s website. He also stars in the series as an adult version of the main character.