V-Wars kicks off IDW, eOne deal

IDW Entertainment and eOne Television are to develop a series based on the V-Wars comic books as the first project under their recently announced first-look/coproduction deal.

Tim Schlatmann, a three-time Emmy nominee for his work on Dexter, will write the pilot and be an executive producer on the series. It will be based on the books by Jonathan Maberry about a war between humans and hundreds of new species of vampires.

Other executive producers will be Ted Adams and David Ozer from IDW, John Morayniss and Benedict Carver from eOne and David Alpert and Rick Jacobs from Circle of Confusion.

The IDW/eOne deal, signed in February, calls for the two companies to fully fund development of projects and jointly handle US network sales, aiming to get direct-to-series commitments from broadcast or cable channels.

Soon after appointing a new head for its distribution arm, Stuart Baxter, eOne will handle international distribution. Circle of Confusion, executive producer of The Walking Dead, which eOne distributes, will drive the creative development and production of projects under its own deal with IDW.

IDW president Ozer said Schlatmann “brings an incredible vision for V-Wars. The series sets an exciting tone for our first project launched with eOne and will resonate throughout the global television market.”

EOne Television CEO Morayniss said the project “lays the groundwork for a slate of ambitious projects to come. We are thrilled to have attracted such a huge talent as Tim to bring this gritty post-apocalyptic world to life.”

V-Wars is set in a world transformed by a catastrophic environmental event that releases an ancient virus that affects individuals differently, depending on their DNA. The property made its debut earlier this month as a collection of prose stories and a second volume is scheduled for release in July. IDW Publishing also launched an ongoing monthly V-Wars comic book series in May.