From THR: XIII, Jean Van Hamme’s popular graphic novel series, is coming to the small screen. A thriller/conspiracy story inspired by Ludlam’s The Bourne Identity, XIII has sold 13 million copies worldwide since it was first published, 25 years ago.
Financed by Canada’s Prodigy Pictures and France’s Cipango, the series will air in France on Canal Plus in 2011 and in Canada on Showcase in spring 2011. No word yet on a U.S. network pickup. Gil Grant (NCIS: Los Angeles, 24) wrote the pilot and will serve as the series’ showrunner and executive producer.
Stuart Townsend will star as the eponymous XIII, a former secret agent who can’t remember his past and sets out to uncover his true identity. Hunted by an anti-government organization, XIII quickly realizes that the closer he gets to the truth, the more deadly his search becomes.
Well, I do love a good spy story, so here’s hoping it’s good – it just seems like we’re going to be drowning in TV spies come fall, what with USA’s Covert Affairs and Burn Notice, NBC’s Chuck and Undercovers, CBS’s Chaos, and the CW’s Nikita. Not to mention ABC is developing a U.S. remake of the U.K. hit MI-5 and ABC Family is developing a show about college kids training as spies… A tad overkill, no?
Leave a Reply