Sometimes, you just have to stick with what works. Following the massive success of The Walking Dead -- his long-running series about the zombie apocalypse, which currently topping the comic books and television chart -- Robert Kirkman's latest project once again combines his seemingly magic ingredients of comic books, television and dead people.
It was announced today that Outcast, Kirkman's Image Comics series launching in 2014 about a man coming to terms with the demonic possessions that have followed him around since he was a child, will be simultaneously developed as a television project for Cinemax, following an intense bidding war between cable networks.
News of the project initially surfaced in March, with its title and details being revealed by Image Comics last month. Described by Kirkman as "a big, epic story," Outcast centers around Kyle Barnes, a man whose mother was possessed when he was a child, and his struggles with the subject of possession in later life.
"Despite the success of The Walking Dead, Outcast is only my second foray into the horror genre," Kirkman told the Hollywood Reporter. "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."
As with The Walking Dead, Kirkman will serve as an executive producer on the Cinemax incarnation of Outcast, which received a script commitment with penalty if it doesn't move forward. He'll also write the pilot, unlike Walking Dead, the first episode of which was scripted by original showrunner Frank Darabont (Kirkman's first screenplay for the AMC series didn't come until its fourth episode).
Outcast marks Kirkman's fourth television project to date. In addition to The Walking Dead, he is also developing a Walking Dead spin-off, as well as a television adaptation of his crime comic Thief of Thieves, for AMC. Additionally, he's serving as the executive producer for a television adaptation Clone, a comic published under his Skybound imprint at Image Comics.
The comic book version of Outcast, which will be illustrated by Paul Azaceta, is planned for a 2014 launch.
