After scoring with live action web series based on the “Halo” and “Mortal Kombat” video game franchises, Machinima is turning to comicbooks for new programming.
The online entertainment player, whose audience is made up mostly of young males age 18-35, has paired with producer Adrian Askarieh to produce a 10-minute pilot based on “Enormous,” a graphic novel that revolves around a cataclysmic ecological event that creates massive beasts that overrun human civilization and puts mankind at the bottom of the food chain.
Askarieh’s Prime Universe Productions will produce the pilot for Machinima before turning it into a full-fledged series that can play on various digital platforms the company appears on, including the new Xbox One.
BenDavid Grabinski, who helmed the short “Cost of Living,” will direct the pilot whose concept is a blend of “Cloverfield” and “The Walking Dead.” Grabinski penned the script with Andre Ovredal (“Troll Hunter”).
The project is in the midst of being cast, with a December shoot in L.A. being eyed.
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Image Comics published the first “Enormous” book, created by Tim Daniel and artist Mehdi Cheggour (“Heavy Metal”), with Fifth World Studios set to publish the rest of the series.
Askarieh, who is also producing a film adaptation of game “Deus Ex” at CBS Films, and the “Hitman” reboot “Agent 47” with Paul Walker, will executive produce “Enormous,” along with Joshua Wexler and his Pure Imagination Studios.
SEE ALSO: CBS Films to adapt ‘Deus Ex’ videogame
Ian Moffitt and Andy Shapiro are overseeing for Machinima as executive producers.
Given the marketer-friendly audience Machinima is able to attract, “Enormous'” produocers are developing the project with brands in mind, with Harley-Davidson in talks to come on board “Enormous” as an integrated sponsor.
“The medium in which Machinima is operating and is a leader can’t be ignored by anyone in film or television,” Askarieh said. “They are at the very forefront of delivering this type of content to their young-male audiences globally. We look at it as the launching phase of our collective long-term plans for the ‘Enormous’ franchise.”
