MBC Starts Big-Budget Saudi Series ‘Rise of the Witches’ – Global Bulletin

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran MBC Studios, the in-house premium content production arm of MBC Group, has commenced production on fantasy-adventure “Rise of the Witches”, the biggest series to be ever produced with a homegrown Saudi cast, and holds the largest ever budget for special effects for a Saudi production.

Supported by NEOM, the series is being filmed on three purpose-built studio sets, including Saudi Arabia’s biggest purpose-built backlots to date.Based on the best-selling Saudi mythology books by Osamah Almuslim, the series, set in ancient Arabia, tells the story of an epic war between two rival witch covens, led by Afsaar and Da’ja’a.Growing up in a world dominated by male magicians who want to prevent women from having any access to magical powers, both witches secretly learn the arts and go on to form their own groups in order to protect themselves and gain power.

The predominantly Saudi cast is led by Ida AlKusay and Sumaya Rida. The series is directed by Declan O’Dwyer and Craig Pickles, with production led by Dominic Barlow, with MBC Group’s Zeinab Abu Alsamh as executive producer.Alsamh said: “ ‘Rise of the Witches’ is a true homegrown production, and features recognizable and new faces, with talent both in front of and behind the cameras coming from our very own MBC Academy and MBC Talent hubs.

This series will no doubt make household names of the cast — this outstanding fantasy-adventure is not one to be missed.”The ten-part series is a Shahid Original and will stream on Shahid later this year.The new-look Iron Throne, which will be seen in HBO/Sky “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon,” has commenced a U.K.