In a competitive bidding war, Legendary Television and producer Matt Tolmach have acquired the rights to Greg Rucka and Michael Lark's dystopian-set comic book series, Lazarus for a scripted TV series.
First released in October 2013 by Image Comics, Lazarus centers on a futuristic world where 16 wealthy families rule society. Each family has a Lazarus, a genetically engineered, unkillable being, who protects the family. Forever Carlyle is a Lazarus, and the central character in the series. She uses force and deception to keep her family and their interests safe. The popular series examines class structure and explores universal themes like morality and love.
Rucka will write the series pilot episode, along with executive producing with Lark and Tolmach. David Manpearl of Matt Tolmach Productions will work alongside Tolmach, who is known for producing The Amazing Spider-Man franchise at Sony, on the project.
Rucka, a five-time Eisner award-winner, is known for his popular novel series Atticus Kodiak. He served as an executive producer on the movie Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale, which is based on his comic book series of the same name. Also, his novel and comic book series Queen & Country is set up at Fox.
Lark, a New York Times best-selling comic book artist, has received two Eisner Awards, both for his collaborative work with Rucka. His artwork has appeared in comics including Daredevil, Captain America and The Winter Soldier at Marvel and Gotham Central.
Lauren Whitney, who recently joined Legendary as president of scripted television, will oversee the project with Peter Johnson, Legendary’s evp of scripted development.
Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, Inc. sold Lazarus on behalf of lit agent David Hale Smith of Inkwell Management. Rucka and Lark are also repped by Stone, Meyer.
Legendary Television, which launched in 2013, has two series in preproduction: a co-production with Universal Cable Productions, Colony, which USA picked up to series, and the two-season order for the Netflix original series, Love, from creators Judd Apatow, Paul Rust and Lesley Arfin. As THR exclusively reported, they are also developing Carnival Row, a project from Guillermo del Toro and Rene Echevarria for Amazon.
