Hivemind & EC Comics Partner For Film/TV Projects Including ‘Weird Fantasy’

Hivemind announced a partnership with EC Comics proprietors William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. to produce film and television projects based on the comic book publisher’s titles, including a TV show based on the sci-fi/fantasy series Weird Fantasy.

The Weird Fantasy television series will be the first project produced under this new partnership and will, of course, be based on the EC Comics series of the same name, which explored themes of racial and gender equality, anti-war advocacy, nuclear disarmament, and ecological preservation through visionary genre storytelling. Producer and Hivemind Co-President Dinesh Shamdasani made the following statement on the new partnership and the Weird Fantasy series:

“The EC library is a timeless literary achievement that deserves to stand alongside the works of Stephen King, Philip K. Dick, and H.P. Lovecraft. WEIRD FANTASY is a truly historic property that shattered many barriers, and our goal is to make the television series just as fearless and forward-thinking as the stories that inspired it.”

The following details on the partnership and upcoming projects are included in the press release below:

The new partnership is also slated to include a feature film based on the life of William M. Gaines, the former EC Comics publisher and self-styled comics provocateur who challenged the rigid moral code of 1950s America with shockingly innovative and deeply subversive tales of fantasy, horror and humor that sold in the millions…only to find his company investigated by Congress and his books burned in the streets in the wake of EC’s staggering success. Chronicling one of the greatest untold chapters in American history, the film will follow Gaines’ transformation from a staid, New York publishing impresario into a counterculture hero, guardian of artistic freedom, and champion of the First Amendment as his darkly humorous journey through the troubled birth of the comic book industry reveals the Red Scare-era witch hunt that nearly doomed an American art form, through the subsequent founding of MAD MAGAZINE and eventual rise of Marvel Comics in EC’s wake.

Both projects will be produced by Gaines’ daughter and grandson, Cathy Mifsud and Corey Mifsud, for EC, alongside Dinesh Shamdasani, Sean Daniel, Jason F. Brown, and Hunter Gorinson forHivemind. The projects will mark Gorinson’s first for Hivemind, where he also has joined as VP Brand & Content Strategy. Prior to joining Hivemind in mid-2018, Gorinson previously led marketing and communications as an executive at Valiant Entertainment, the acclaimed comic book publisher whose much-publicized relaunch will culminate with the release of Sony Pictures‘ BLOODSHOT feature film, starring Vin Diesel and adapted from the Valiant comic series by director Dave Wilson and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Eric Heisserer, in early 2020.

“The story of William Gaines is the secret history of American pop culture,” said Gorinson. “The ideas he presented in the pages of MAD, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, WEIRD FANTASY, and so many more would inspire and incite revolutionary countercultures – from comics to comedy to film and music – around the globe for decades to come. As a veteran of the comics industry myself and a lifelong fan of EC, it’s a tremendous honor to be working alongside the Gaines family to help bring his story – which has an immense amount to tell us about our own modern moment – to a new generation on the big screen.”

“It’s very important to us to be able to find a partner that truly understands the significance and influence of Dad and the world-class creators that made EC Comics legendary,” said Cathy Mifsud, Gaines’ daughter. “We’re incredibly excited to have found just such a partner in Hivemind and to embark on the first of several projects that will embrace the company’s legacy in ways never before attempted.”

WEIRD FANTASY and the untitled Gaines biopic mark two major new additions to Hivemind’s rapidly expanding roster of film and television projects, which currently includes THE EXPANSE for Amazon Studios (where it also holds a first-look deal for event television), the highly anticipated adaptation of THE WITCHER starring Henry Cavill for Netflix, and CBS Films‘ upcoming SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK feature film from producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal. Most recently, the company announced that it had won an intense, multi-party bidding war to bring the hitImage Comics series GIDEON FALLS, by Eisner Award-winning writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino, to television as an hour-long horror-drama.

Are you excited to see EC Comics’ come to life on film and television? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!