Keshet Studios to adapt dystopian thriller ‘The Awoken’

Keshet Studios has acquired the TV rights to Katelyn Monroe Howes’ debut novel, The Awoken, to develop as a returning drama for the US market.

The book, which was published this week, is a “high-stakes, adrenaline-fueled” romantic story about “a chilling, all-too-plausible future” that sees a woman with terminal cancer undergo cryogenic preservation as her only hope for a second chance, but leaving behind the love of her life. When she wakes up a century later, she discovers a world where her very life is now a crime.

The futuristic thriller will be adapted for television by Howes herself, while Keshet Studios’ EVP of TV, Lisa Roos, and VP of scripted, Heather Brewster, will produce, along with Peter Traugott, who will also executive produce alongside Howes, Alon Shtruzman from Keshet International and Avi Nir from Keshet Media Group.

“We are really thrilled to have closed this deal with Katelyn,” said Roos. “We love that The Awoken is an ambitious idea with a sweeping love story and although it takes place in the future, it tackles real issues that are relevant to today.”

Keshet Studios, the US studio of Keshet International, has a first-look deal with Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and is currently co-producing season two of La Brea for NBC and The Calling for Peacock with them. Other projects in production include Echo 3 for Apple TV+, which is based on When Heroes Fly; and A Small Light for Nat Geo/Disney+.