Dark Horse Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions Ink First-Look Deal

Dark Horse Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions are teaming up to bring comic book fans more of the programming they want to see, their favorite comics brought to life.

The deal announced today will focus on Universal Cable Productions (UCP) working with Dark Horse to develop and produce scripted programming from their extensive comic book library, as well as new material. In case you haven’t heard of Dark Horse,(which is hard for us to believe, since it’s the largest independent comic book publisher in the US) its successful line of comics, manga and products based on popular properties includes: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, to name a few.

“Dark Horse Entertainment has an incredible roster of fantastical, witty and mind bending stories,” said Dawn Olmstead, Executive Vice President of Development, Universal Cable Productions in a statement. “Their brand has conquered multiple media platforms and boasts iconic books that have attracted the highest level of writers. It’s going to be a wild and imaginative ride.”

Dark Horse President and founder Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg, SVP of Production, is currently executive producing Syfy’s Dark Matter and plans to work with UCP to bring their unique and fresh approach to the creative process.

“As the landscape of narrative storytelling evolves, Dark Horse is thrilled to be working in the golden age of television with Universal Cable Productions. Their creative team has embraced the spirit of the Dark Horse brand and we’re proud to be partnered with them.” said Richardson in a statement.

You can read more about the projects that are currently in development, per Universal Cable Productions, below:

  • “Harrow County” – Emmy has always known that the deep, dark woods surrounding her home crawled with ghosts, goblins, and the restless dead. On the eve of her 18th birthday, she learns that she is connected to these creatures and to the land itself in a way she never imagined, for she is the reincarnation of a powerful witch who was put to death on the very day Emmy was born. For this reason, the townsfolk mean to kill her too. In order to survive, Emmy must embrace the unusual powers at her command. This project is based on the brand new book written by Cullen Bunn (“The Damned”, “The Sixth Gun”) and illustrated by Tyler Crook (“Bad Blood”). The comic quickly sold out of its first printing.
  • “The Umbrella Academy” – Nine years after parting ways, the estranged members of the Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional family of superheroes with bizarre powers, must figure out how to work together to save the world. Created by Gerard Way (lead singer of “My Chemical Romance”, and writer of “The True Lies of the Fabulous Killjoys”) and Gabriel Ba (Daytripper); Bluegrass films is also attached to executive produce.
  • “Back Up” – In the near future, a new technology allows people to be backed up the same way we now back up our computers—but instead of protecting against drive failure, these backups protect against death. This project is based on a feature script by Tom Vaughn. Kenny Golde is set to write and executive produce, Brad Anderson (“Zoo”, “Almost Human”) is in negotiations to direct. Jim Wedaa is also attached to executive produce.
  • “Concrete” – After his subconscious is transplanted into a hulking stone body, Ronald Lithgow must come to terms with his new form and try to live a normal life. This Eisner award-winning title is the opus of comics legend Paul Chadwick.

Let us know what you think of the partnership in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Dark Horse/ Tyler Crook

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