The Walking Dead comic book and TV show creator and writer Robert Kirkman has a new horror series in the works entitled Outcast. The exorcism show which will be based on Kirkman’s upcoming comic of the same name sparked a bidding war for the TV rights and cable channel Cinemax won out. Read on for more information.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is expanding his TV universe to the world of exorcisms.
Following a multiple cable network bidding war, Cinemax has landed Outcast, a drama based on Kirkman’s upcoming Image/Skybound comic of the same name. The cable network has given a script commitment with large penalty to the project.
The comic and potential series centers on Kyle Barnes, who has been plagued by possession since he was a child. Now an adult, he embarks on a spiritual journey to find answers, but what he uncovers could mean the end of life on Earth as we know it. The comic will debut in 2014.
Kirkman will pen the script and executive produce alongside Circle of Confusion’s David Alpert (The Walking Dead). The drama, which was first announced in March, hails from Fox International Channels — the company that distributes Walking Dead worldwide and a strategic partner on the zombie drama who identified AMC’s ratings juggernaut during its script stage. It will mark Kirkman’s first time writing a pilot.
“Despite the success of The Walking Dead, Outcast is only my second foray into the horror genre. I think Kyle Barnes is every bit as compelling as Rick Grimes and demonic possession is way scarier than zombies — so this is going to be fun,” Kirkman said. “Starting a new project is like setting off on an long journey and I couldn’t ask for better travel companions than David Alpert and Sharon Tal Yguado and I’m thrilled to be a part of what Cinemax has planned for the next few years.”
Talking to reporters recently about Outcast, Kirkman said the title marks the first time since The Walking Dead that he’s done a comic that is a very “real-world dramatic take on a horror concept, and this is going to be me doing that again.”
Kirkman said Outcast will explore similar themes to The Walking Dead — most notably the urgency that comes with loved ones affected by an outside force (possession instead of whatever is behind the zombie outbreak). “There are some similarities but hopefully we’ll be [covering] new ground that makes this very different from The Walking Dead,” he told reporters. “This is going to be a big, epic story with a lot of characters and we’ll probably lose a few along the way. I don’t know if it’s quite as much of a bloodbath as The Walking Dead has turned out to be but there certainly is an element of, ‘No one is safe.’ “
