Netflix’s next book-to-TV show adaptation is Hot Skull, and here’s everything you need to know ahead of its release in December.
Based on the novel of the same name by Afşin Kum, and created by Mert Baykal, the series is about an epidemic that spreads from mind to mind through communication.
Hot Skull is set to drop on the streaming site on December 2, and here’s all you need to know in advance.
Netflix’s Hot Skull
The eight-part series is set in a world shaken by an epidemic of madness that spreads through language and speech, the reclusive former linguist Murat Siyavus, having taken refuge at his mother’s home, is the only person mysteriously unaffected by this disease.
Hunted by the ruthless Anti-Epidemic Institution, Murat is forced to leave the safe zone and flee within the flames and ruins of the streets of Istanbul, where he searches for the secret of his “hot skull” – a lasting mark of the disease.
The lead role of Murat is played by Osman Sonant who’s best known for his role in the 2011 movie Yangin Var, when he played the role of Kosman, his 2019 movie Bir Ask Iki Hayat, and the 2020 Netflix docudrama Rise of Empires: Ottoman.
Hot Skull also stars Şevket Çoruh (Back Streets), Hazal Subaşı (Çukur), Tilbe Saran (Istanbullu Gelin), Kubilay Tunçer (Fatma), Özgür Emre Yıldırım (50M2), Gonca Vuslateri (Anne), Zerrin Sümer (The Ambassador’s Daughter), Yetkin Dikinciler (The Other Path) and Hakan Gerçek (Ezel).
Erdem Akakçe (Rise of Empires: Ottoman), Barış Yıldız (The Four Walls), Arda Anarat (The Magnificent Century), Furkan Kalabalık (Mahkum), Şebnem Hassanisoughi (Man on Pause), Cüneyt Uzunlar (Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu), and Haluk Bilginer (Innocent), also co-star.
Afşin Kum’s Hot Skull
Hot Skull was published in 2016 and it was the first novel by Afşin Kum – following years working as a screenplay writer and having essays and stories published in Afili Filintalar and Ot magazine.
Hot Skull won Kum the best novel award at the Gio Awards in 2017, which is one of the most prestigious Turkish awards for literature.