Robert Kirkman's Skybound Plans Assassin TV Show Based on Korean Film

CBR

By Tim Webber

Published Jan 15, 2019

The Walking Dead creator's production company is planning a new series based on the Korean film, The Villainess.

After The Walking Dead redefined what zombies could be and Outcast offered a new approach to exorcists, Robert Kirkman and his production company, Skybound Entertainment, are set to take on the world of assassins with The Villainess.

The live-action series will be an adaption of director Jung Byung-gil's 2017 Korean film of the same name. The action-thriller follows Sook-hee, a female South Korean assassin who unsuccessfully tries to leave the world of violence behind her. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned solid reviews that highlighted its bloody, kinetic action.

As Deadline noted, Byung-gil will direct the pilot for The Villainess series, which will be co-produced by the Korean studio Contents Panda. The pilot will reportedly center around a Korean-born assassin named Anes, who travels from Los Angeles to South Korea to uncover the secrets of her violent past.

“Jung Byung-gil has quickly established himself as one of the world’s great action directors," said Bryan and Sean Furst, Skybound Entertainment's Co-Presidents of TV and Film in a joint statement. "And we’re incredibly excited to be working with him to expand the world of The Villainess into a thrilling international series.”

While The Villainess doesn't have a streaming or TV home or a series order yet, Skybound currently has a first-look deal with Amazon Studios, which means that the series could end up streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Skybound is also currently developing 5 Year, a pre-apocalyptic series that's an adaptation of a Korean drama and follows a family in the last days before a meteor hits Earth. Skybound is also developing an animated adaptation of Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley's Image Comics series Invincible for Amazon.

In the meantime, The Walking Dead, starring Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Alanna Masterson, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton and Christian Serratos, will have its mid-season premiere Sun. Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.