Robert Kirkman Has a New Apocalyptic Series Coming and It’s Going Global
For years many wondered what the early days of the zombie outbreak looked like on The Walking Dead before creator Robert Kirkman and AMC teamed up to create Fear the Walking Dead. Now, Kirkman is taking a somewhat similar approach to that idea of global chaos with a brand new pre-apocalyptic series called 5 Year. The series will find Kirkman and his company Skybound Entertainment pairing up with Entertainment One to co-produce the series with eOne handling the financing and distribution.
According to Deadline, 5 Year would follow “the final five years before a fatal meteor hits the Earth.” The series had initially been announced in 2016 as an exclusively Korean drama, but now Kirkman and his team have decided to make 5 Year a trailblazing world-wide venture. With deals already in place in Korea, UK, Latin America, Germany, India, Russia, China, and Italy, the plan is to have 5 Year customized to each market with both the narrative and characters set in that specific region. Meaning that it would be in that nation’s language and would fit into the overall series timeline.
[row]“One of our biggest goals at Skybound is to elevate creators by offering them a platform to create compelling stories. 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. We’re excited to have eOne’s expertise in global storytelling for this project,” Kirkman told Deadline in a statement. [/row]
The series will mark a truly inventive and game-changing way to tell a story and it’s something that Entertainment One knew they had to be involved in, especially with a visionary like Kirkman at the helm.
[row]“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. 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.,” ,” said eOne’s executive Peter Micelli. [/row]
In addition to Kirkman, Skybound’s David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst will all executive produce. Kirkman has had a huge presence in the world of television since his comic book series The Walking Dead was turned into the record-breaking AMC series for which he also serves as EP. He also had a series on Cinemax called Outcast, which centered around demonic possession. It was recently canceled after two seasons. In addition, last year, Kirkman signed an overall deal with Amazon to create original content.
What do you think about Kirkman’s new venture? The Walking Dead returns to AMC on February 10th!
Having studied Media & Writing at James Madison University, I always knew that I wanted to do some type of creative writing, but being able to write about zombies, Starks, and superheroes on a daily basis for Fan Fest is my actual dream. While I probably shouldn’t be as proud as I am to be so similar to Nick Miller, I do hope to one day write my own “Pepperwood Chronicles’.
