Announced at New York Comic Con, director James Wan and his Atomic Monster production company are joining Hivemind’s television adaptation of Gideon Falls. The Aquaman director, who is currently shooting Malignant, will bring the horror vibes he established in the Saw and The Conjuring franchises to the series.
Based on the Eisner-winning Image Comics series created by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, Gideon Falls takes place in a small, rural town and follows a divergent group of characters as a dark presence slowly takes hold of the town. At the center of the action is a dissatisfied priest and a young man who thinks the city’s trash is pointing him towards a larger conspiracy as they both separately try to discover the mystery of the eerie and deadly Black Barn.
“We are very excited about James Wan and Atomic Monster joining the Gideon Falls team,” the comic creators, who will also serve as Executive Producers on the series, said in a statement. “James’ creative vision will be a wonderful fit for the world of Gideon Falls and to help adapt the series to television in a truly unique and exciting way.”
The series, currently being developed as an hour-long drama, doesn’t have any cast or a network/streaming service behind it yet, but the high-caliber announcement will likely spur more news in the coming months.
This marks the first collaboration between Atomic Monster and Hivemind. Hivemind originally acquired the rights to the series after a heated bidding war that took place after Gideon Fall’s victory in the “Best New Comics” category at the 2019 Eisners. The company is no stranger to adapting fictional series to the silver and big screen though, as they currently produce The Witcher for Netflix and are hard at work making Bloodshot for Valiant.
“To have a filmmaker of James Wan’s caliber, talent, and vision contributing to the atmospheric and terrifying world that Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino have created with Gideon Falls is nothing short of incredible,” Hivemind co-founders Kathy Lingg, Dinesh Shamdasani, and Jason Brown said in a statement.
While Gideon Falls will be returning to comic stores on October 16th after a brief hiatus, Lemire and Sorrentino are re-teaming for Joker: Killer Smile, with the first issue hitting stores on October 30th.
