James Wan's Atomic Monster Boards Hivemind's GIDEON FALLS

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hivemind today announced that it is joining forces with James Wan (the upcoming MALIGNANT, AQUAMAN, THE CONJURING Universe) and his Atomic Monster production company for GIDEON FALLS – Hivemind's upcoming television adaptation of the best-selling Image Comics series from acclaimed creators Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino.

Fresh off of GIDEON FALLS' high-profile win for "Best New Series" at the 2019 Eisner Awards, Wan will executive produce the hour-long horror drama alongside Atomic Monster's Michael Clear, Hivemind's Jason Brown, Sean Daniel, Kathy Lingg and Dinesh Shamdasani, and original series creators Lemire and Sorrentino. Rob Hackett will oversee for Atomic Monster.

"We are very excited about James Wan and Atomic Monster joining the GIDEON FALLS team," said series co-creators Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. "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."

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.

"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," said Hivemind co-founders Kathy Lingg, Dinesh Shamdasani, and Jason Brown. "This is a high-powered and formidable combination for one of the most acclaimed comic series of the decade, and James and his colleagues at Atomic Monster – Michael Clear and Rob Hackett – are the perfect partners to help bring our adaptation to life. Fans of GIDEON FALLS, rest assured: We have some incredible surprises yet in store."

Acquired by Hivemind following an intense, multi-party bidding war, GIDEON FALLS marks a major new addition to the company's quickly expanding roster of film and television projects, which currently includes Netflix's hotly anticipated adaptation of THE WITCHER fantasy franchise starring Henry Cavill and Amazon's acclaimed science-fiction series THE EXPANSE, which was recently renewed for a fifth season in advance of the fourth's debut. The company is also currently producing the upcoming feature film BLOODSHOT, starring Vin Diesel and based on the best-selling Valiant comic book series, for Sony Pictures.

In recent months, Hivemind has also announced multiple forthcoming projects in the genre space, including WEIRD FANTASY, a new television series based on the subversive and internationally renowned science-fiction stories of EC Comics; a biographical feature film chronicling the life of comic book publisher, MAD MAGAZINE co-founder and counterculture icon William M. Gaines; and the first live-action adaptation of FINAL FANTASY, based the multibillion-dollar video game franchise, in partnership with Square Enix and Sony Pictures Television.

GIDEON FALLS will notably mark the first collaboration between Hivemind and Atomic Monster.

Wan is represented by Paradigm, Stacey Testro International, and attorney David Fox.

ABOUT HIVEMIND

Established in 2018, Hivemind is dedicated to partnering 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. The company's current projects include the acclaimed science-fiction series THE EXPANSE for Amazon and the highly anticipated television adaptation of THE WITCHER for Netflix, as well as the recently released SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK feature film, based on the best-selling book series, from producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal. Hivemind recently signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios for event television, and its leadership team includes former Universal Pictures president Sean Daniel, his producing partner Jason Brown, Bad Robot veteran Kathy Lingg, and former Valiant Entertainment CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani.

ABOUT ATOMIC MONSTER

James Wan's production company, Atomic Monster, launched its successful slate with ANNABELLE (2015) and followed with LIGHTS OUT (2016), ANNABELLE: CREATION (2017), THE NUN (2018), THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (2019) and ANNABELLE COMES HOME (2019).  All were New Line Cinema productions released by Warner Bros.

Upcoming for Atomic Monster is THE CONJURING 3 for New Line (in post-production), THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE for Netflix (in production), MORTAL KOMBAT for New Line (in production) and MALIGNANT for Starlight Media and Midas Innovation (currently in production with Wan as Director).

Atomic Monster's television slate kicked off with MACGYVER, a re-imagining of the classic television series, which premiered on CBS in the Fall of 2016.  The 4^th season of the series begins airing this month.  The company's 2^nd series was SWAMP THING (2019) for Warner Bros. Television.  The program streamed on DC Universe.

ABOUT JEFF LEMIRE & ANDREA SORRENTINO

New York Times best-selling and award-winning author Jeff Lemire is the creator of such iconic graphic novels as ESSEX COUNTY, SWEET TOOTH, UNDERWATER WELDER, and ROUGHNECK, as well as the co-creator of DESCENDER with Dustin Nguyen, BLACK HAMMER with Dean Ormston and PLUTONA with Emi Lenox. Having won the American Library Association's prestigious Alex Award – recognizing books for adults with specific teen appeal – Lemire has been nominated for eight Eisner awards, seven Harvey awards, and eight Shuster awards.

Best-selling, award-winning and acclaimed Italian artist Andrea Sorrentino was named IGN's "Best Comic Artist" of 2012 and, in the years since, has contributed to some of Marvel and DC Comics' greatest properties, including X-MEN, WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN, SECRET EMPIRE, and GREEN ARROW. In addition to their ongoing work on GIDEON FALLS, Lemire and Sorrentino will next collaborate on JOKER: KILLER SMILE for DC Comics' Black Label imprint.

Lemire and Sorrentino are represented by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, Inc. and represented legally by Allison Binder of Stone, Meyer, Genow, Smelkinson & Binder.

SOURCE Hivemind