Deadworld Film Moves Forward With David Hayter

Perseverance sometimes pays off.

Variety today reports that Deadworld has been tapped to become a feature film franchise, courtesy of David Hayter and Benedict Carver’s Dark Hero Studios. Hayter and Carver will team with Pandemonium’s Bill Mechanic for the project. Hayter will write the screenplay, and Gary Reed will be one of the film’s executive producers. The film will be financed by Framelight and Pandemonium.

The series originally started at Arrow Comics in 1987, where it ran for nine issues, before Arrow ceased publication, and was then picked up by Caliber Comics, and most recently, the property saw life at Image Comics via Desperado. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world, and picks up after a zombie outbreak. As the trade explains it:

Deadworld picks up four months after that event, where the Dead overtake the Earth, with humans few and far between. Protag is King Zombie, a Harley-riding corpse who holds a grudge against the survivors who made him an outcast.

Hayter will design the look of the film and its world. "It's very much about the design of the Deadworld and creating cool, frightening but not necessarily gory creatures," Hayter told Variety. "I am a huge fan of zombie mythology."

Production is expected to start next year.