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Hivemind Wins TV Rights to Gideon Falls from Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino

Published Thu, 28 Jun 2018 09:52:21 -0500

Last updated Thu, 28 Jun 2018 13:37:21 -0500

It's already been a hit in the comics industry, going to third printings, and the first issue going for up to $20 on eBay. But that may be about to go a lot higher.

The Hollywood Reporter has just announced that Hivemind – a new company from former Bad Robot TV head Kathy Lingg, former Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani, and longtime producing partners Sean Daniel and Jason Brown – has acquired the rights to Gideon Falls, the Image Comics series created by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, after a heated, multi-studio bidding war for the property.

The new production label, which has already signed a major first-look deal with Amazon Studios, will produce Gideon Falls as an hour-long sci-fi/horror drama for television… and the rumor mill is already churning with word of heavyweight creative talent in talks for the series. Expect more announcements on that front soon, I'm told. SDCC is just round the corner.

Co-creators Lemire and Sorrentino will executive produce the series alongside Hivemind's Jason Brown, Sean Daniel, Kathy Lingg, and Dinesh Shamdasani. Here's how they sum up the series:

An atmospheric thriller colliding rural mystery and urban horror, the series follows an ensemble cast of seemingly random strangers – a washed-up Catholic priest, an uncompromising female sheriff, and a young recluse obsessed with unraveling a conspiracy buried in his city's trash – as they become drawn into a mystery connected to a long-forgotten local legend.

The creator-owned title – the first to re-team Lemire and Sorrentino after acclaimed runs on DC's Green Arrow and Marvel's Old Man Logan – has become a breakout for Image, commanding repeatedly sold-out printings and aftermarket sales of more than $200 for the ComicsPRO edition online.

Fresh off the success of an Eisner Award win for Dark Horse's Black Hammer and with new TV deal in hand — it's clearly hoped he's next in line to enter the Robert Kirkman/Mark Millar club of comic creator-turned-mass media star. Rick Remender, hang back, wait your turn…

Today's news also marks a notable turn for newly minted Hivemind Co-President Dinesh Shamdasani and reveals his next big move following his departure from Valiant Entertainment after their acquisition by Chinese investment firm DMG earlier this year. More of that when we have it.

Shamdasani – who also continues to produce Sony's big-budget Bloodshot film starring Vin Diesel – has a deep rolodex in comics circles and, given his new company's mandate to partner with "high-level creative talent and globally recognized intellectual properties from the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic books, video games, anime, and more," it seems likely Gideon Falls won't be the last piece of major, comic-related news we hear from him soon. But more on that shortly.

In the meantime, 2018 continues to shape up as Lemire's biggest year yet. With his high-profile return to DC and Marvel now in full swing, a stable of creator-owned projects with A-list collaborators at virtually every major indie publisher, and, now, a large-scale TV adaptation of Gideon Falls in the offing, his status as a long-term critical and commercial force in comics seems more like a certainty than ever before.