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?