While Robert Kirkman‘s ‘The Walking Dead’ is still going strong on AMC even with the rating slump, the creator is already looking for the future. Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment has inked a deal with Entertainment One to bring a new series titled ‘5 Year.’ At this time, the two companies are set to co-produce the series while eOne’s role is to take care of both the financing and distribution for the series.
‘5 Year’ takes place in the final five years on planet Earth before a meteor is slated to hit the planet and likely wipe out all life as we know it. We’ve seen this kind of tale told before in quite a few novels though it isn’t one which has tended to hit the big or small screen. The idea here will also be trying to simultaneously give us both a global and localized perspective of what is happening.
The series will be five seasons long, and there are international deals already in place with Korea, the UK, Latin America, Germany, India Russia, China, and Italy. The idea for localizing the series is that a different set of shows will be filmed for each market with characters and stories that would fit in with that region. However, they’ll also be sharing the same timeline and some key events will be spoken about across each series.
According to Kirkman:
“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.”
I’m not going to lie; I think the idea of bringing us a global story from different perspectives is an exciting idea and it would be interesting to see if we’ll be able to easily access the content from each location.
Peter Micelli, eOne’s Chief Strategy Officer, Film & TV added:
“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. 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.”
eOne has the resources to help make Kirkman’s vision a reality, and this will be an exciting one to experience. I’m genuinely hoping that the global market will allow for each episode of each season released simultaneously across the included markets.
Are you excited for the idea of ‘5 Year’? Do you think that the concept for this series is a winner or will it be too difficult to pull off? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Deadline Hollywood
