Through Skybound Entertainment and eOne, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has developed a new project entitled 5 Year that has officially been picked up by the two studios for a new series development, according to Deadline.
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The series, which will be executive produced by Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan and Sean Furst, will follow various regions of the Earth in the final five years before a fatal meteor is set to collide with the planet.
International sales and distribution deals have already been put into place for Korea, the United Kingdom, Latin America, Germany, India, Russia, China and Italy for the currently five-season-planned series, with an option for further seasons, and Skybound has an ambitious plan to try and produce localized productions of the story for each market it’s being released in, with the series originally planned as solely a Korean drama in 2016.
“One of our biggest goals at Skybound is to elevate creators by offering them a platform to create compelling stories,” Kirkman told Deadline of the series and deal. “Working on 5 Year is an exceptional experience because it gives us the opportunity to see how writers and directors across the world tell different stories with the same core ingredients,” the Image Comics partner added. “We’re excited to have eOne’s expertise in global storytelling for this project.”
Kirkman is most-known for having co-created the acclaimed comic book series The Walking Dead, which has spawned its own media franchise that includes two shows on AMC, multiple video games and webisode series, as well as creating and writing the horror graphic novel series Outcast, which spawned a TV adaptation on Cinemax that only ran for two seasons, having ended back in June after a long-delayed second season run.
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“We couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity to work on a truly innovative project that blends multiple, local productions seamlessly into a story as it happens globally,” said Peter Micelli, eOne’s Chief Strategy Officer, Film & TV. “Robert’s talent for creating content universes and connecting with audiences through bold storytelling makes this partnership most exciting for us and we are thrilled to join forces with him and the Skybound team to bring a multi-level story like the 5 Year universe to audiences around the world. In Skybound, we have found a partner that shares our drive to create future-facing content with worldwide appeal that challenges conventions and spark imaginations.”
The Walking Dead just debuted its midseason finale on Sunday and will be returning with the second half of the ninth season on February 10, 2019.
