It would appear that the trend of comic books making great movies and television is set to continue as Universal Cable Productions is preparing to bring not one, not two, but three series based on the genres that I love! On their list they have an untitled project by Warren Ellis that is being produced by Gale Anne Hurt, the horror series ‘Night Mary’, and finally the pulp styled ‘Five Ghosts’. The studio was previously responsible for such shows as ‘Battlestar Galactica‘, ‘Eureka‘, ‘Caprica’, ‘Being Human‘, ‘Alphas,’ and ‘Warehouse 13‘ and is currently working on Syfy’s ‘Ascension‘, ‘Dominion‘, and ‘12 Monkeys‘ among others. Would it be too much of a stretch to assume that at least one of these is going to end up on Syfy?

On the untitled project, we will see Warren Ellis teaming up with Gale Anne Hurd who is the executive producer on ‘The Walking Dead.’ With how well that has translated to the small screen, I think that they would be able to work amazingly well together. While Ellis has had a few movies based off of his work released, this is his first attempt at television.

According to Ellis, “I’ve been strongly drawn to television over the last few years, and working with brilliant and determined collaborators like Gale and the UCP team, I’m delighted at the opportunity to add my voice to the new, novelistic TV form that’s evolved so dramatically.”

Hurd added that “There are very few writers who have been able to so completely influence a medium as Warren has with comic books. I am very excited to be able to collaborate in bringing his unique vision to television for the first time.”

Now the real question is if this is one of his existing properties or something brand new created for the network?

Next up, UCP has teamed up with IDW Entertainment to bring ‘Night Mary’ as a live action series to television. IDW Entertainment has been making a big push to get their comics in live-action format, and we’re going to be hearing a lot from them over the next few years. ‘Night Mary’ is a horror themed comic by Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer that follows a young woman named Mary Specter. She is a lucid dreamer that can enter the dreams of others. This works great as she attempts to help the patients at her father’s sleep disorder clinic solve their issues. The problem? One of the patients ends up being a serial killer and things go bad quickly as the nightmares he dreams and the nightmares he creates in reality start to mix together.

 

Finally Frank Barbiere’s and Chris Mooneyham’s ‘Five Ghosts’ is also getting a show! This comic is about a 1930’s treasure hunter who is actually possessed by five famous ghosts who he is able to channel and use their powers on adventures. Powers? Well the five ghosts are Merlin, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Musashi, and Dracula so he actually has quite a bit to choose from! At this time Evan Daugherty (‘Snow White and the Huntsman‘, ‘Divergent‘) is set to tackle writing duties on the pilot.

When talking about the three new series, executive VP of Development at UCP, Dawn Olmstead, had this to say:

“We love genre at UCP and thankfully so do audiences. We’ve made it a priority to seek out great properties that will attract equally great creators to adapt them. From Warren’s dynamic plots and complex characters to the dark and suspenseful world of Night Mary, and the creative mashup of five literary icons in the cult hit Five Ghosts, they are all provocative, distinctive and have the promise to be a whole lot of fun.”

As a comic junkie each of these new pieces of details has been great news to my ears! I’m curious what comic Ellis is bringing to the table and have a mixed opinion as to if I want something that he’s already done or something new going forward.

What are your thoughts on the three potential new shows? Do you have a preference on which one you want to know more about or see first? Which networks do you think they’d be a good fit for?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter