Posted in: Current News, Editor's Picks TV News, TV | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Astro City: FremantleMedia Secures TV Series Rights, Co-Creator Kurt Busiek to Pen Pilot

Astro City: FremantleMedia Secures TV Series Rights, Co-Creator Kurt Busiek to Pen Pilot
Credit: Vertigo

FremantleMedia North America is going from flawed gods to all-too-human heroes, with the American Gods producer having acquired the rights to develop writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross's superhero comic book series Astro City as a live-action television series. Busiek and Rick Alexander will pen the pilot; and executive produce alongside FremantleMedia North America's Gregory Noveck.

"It's a thrill to be working with Rick, Gregory and FremantleMedia on this. Everyone, at every turn, is supportive, helpful and completely focused on capturing the feel of Astro City and bringing it to life as a TV show." – Kurt Busiek

Astro City: FremantleMedia Secures TV Series Rights, Co-Creator Kurt Busiek to Pen Pilot
Credit: Vertigo

Created in 1995 by Busiek, Anderson, and Ross, the Astro City universe spans 16 (and counting, as the series moves to a graphic novel format) standalone story arcs that are also loosely-connected in a broader world; and contain over 2,000 original characters. Originally published by Image Comics, the series is currently housed at DC Comics — which is where things get interesting. Although DC Comics is owned by Warner Bros., they weren't able to automatically secure series rights because Busiek owns the rights to the Astro City line, allowing him to shop the rights to a number of producers.

astro city kurt busiek tv series

The fictional Astro City universe explores the lives of ordinary people and those of the all-too-human superhumans in their midst, and their collective, daily struggle to hold on to hope in the face of world-shaking, life-altering events beyond any single individual's control.

A mid-sized American city blessed with, and cursed by, the largest number of superheroes and supervillains in one place on Earth, Astro City is described as a unique brand of humanistic saga — part superhero epic, part intimate drama — in which the (mostly) good hearted, workaday residents of the eponymous locale come into daily contact with the worrisome, the weird and the wondrous.

Deadline Hollywood


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
twitterinstagram
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.