THE VILLAINESS: Skybound, Contents Panda Join Forces For TV Series Adaptation
Here’s to the entertainment industry giving us all more ample reason to stay home and watch TV!
Deadline‘s Peter White is reporting exclusively that stunt coordinator and filmmaker Jung Byung-gil will be on par to direct a pilot episode for a TV series adaptation of 2017 Cannes favorite, The Villainess.
Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment (The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead) is shepherding the series in a deal with Next Entertainment World’s Contents Panda with the search now underway for a series writer.
The Villainess follows Anes, who was kidnapped from her home in Korea and raised as a deadly assassin in Los Angeles. Just when Anes believes she has found true peace, unsettling events drive her to return to Korea to uncover dangerous truths about her home and her past.
The original film, which starred Kim Ok-bin who received multiple award nominations and one win for her key performance, drew mixed reviews amidst its swarms of praise from the festival scene. The film is Jung’s third effort following Action Boys and the searing 2012 crime thriller, Confession Of Murder.
“Jung Byung-gil has quickly established himself as one of the world’s great action directors, and we’re incredibly excited to be working with him to expand the world of The Villainess into a thrilling international series,” said Bryan and Sean Furst, Co-Presidents of TV and Film at Skybound Entertainment.
“We expect that The Villainess, which made a successful debut in Cannes Film Festival, will bring special entertainment and fun to the audience with its rich stories of the genre, and through the partnership with Skybound Entertainment, already well-known for The Walking Dead,” said Contents Panda’s Kim Jae-min.
This adds to at least one other update pertaining to a female-led revival of the popular Kung Fu series that is forthcoming. This is terrific considering Netflix put the kibosh on a new season of Iron Fist that would have deservedly seen a continuation with Jessica Henwick, and NBC’s own plans for a Warrior TV drama with Natalie Martinez starring pretty much disappeared from all the chyrons.
I suppose the next question is: Who will they cast for the role of Anes? I’ll leave that question to you guys, so comment below and share your fancasts?
Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.
HAVOC: 'The Villainess' Director To Tackle DMZ Thriller With Monarch Media | Film Combat Syndicate
October 5, 2020 @ 1:07 pm
[…] Jung best known for his award-winning feats in the director’s chair following his own career, namely taking to audiences for his 2012 box office hit crime mystery thriller, Confession Of Murder. For his most recent 2017 venture on assassin thriller, The Villainess, he earned praise out of Cannes, as well as the Daniel E. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema at the 16th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF). The series has since inspired a television drama in the works as of last year. […]