Todd McFarlane To Launch Two New TV Series

This morning, comic book legend Todd McFarlane announced the launch of a dedicated television development and production arm of McFarlane Films, the video component of his entertainment empire, which is better known for comic books and toys. Through McFarlane Films, which has a first-look television deal with production house Wiip (MARE OF EASTTOWN), McFarlane and his President of Television, Sean Canino, identify and develop new emerging talent, creator-owned properties, independent brands, stories, and characters. It’s starting with a pair of new series that McFarlane Films is putting into development right now, from established talent fronting them. This is in addition to the long-in-development TV adaptation of Sam & Twitch, which McFarlane says is still in the works even as these other projects are moving forward.

McFarlane Films’ initial television development slate includes projects from Thomas Lennon, co-creator of Reno 911! and writer of Night at the Museum; Anders Weidemann, who adapted HBO’s Beartown and created Paramount +’s Interrogation; prolific graphic-novel author, Sean Lewis; and ShadowMachine, who produced Bojack Horseman and Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming Pinocchio.

“Having been in development with Jason Blum at Blumhouse, along with attaching Jamie Foxx on a potential Spawn movie franchise, other opportunities both in film and television came forward which led to this expansion in entertainment,” said Todd McFarlane, McFarlane Films CEO. “Films, television, and video games are all areas I intend to spend my creative energy on a steady basis.”

McFarlane’s statement frames the decision to move aggressively into film and TV as an extension of the philosophy that led him to co-found Image Comics: he wants to take the talents he has been using to benefit others, and turn it around to benefit him.

“I’ve spent decades succeeding in other business fields, going up against some of the biggest names in those industries (Marvel, DC Comics, Hasbro, and Mattel toys) and have been able to bring to market many successful products and ideas those larger companies were not able to give to consumers,” McFarlane said. “I now intend to take those same creative and business practices into Hollywood full-time. As a creator first and CEO of my businesses, I pride myself on finding talented creators and inspiring ideas… then bring them to the world. Two of our newest projects, (one live-action the other stop-motion animation) have talented folks that will help get these new concepts onto the airwaves. Thomas Lennon, Anders Weidemann, Sean Lewis, our partners at wiip, and ShadowMachine are but a few of the folks we’ve begun this journey with.”

Outside of comics, McFarlane’s characters have become successful properties in other media. Spawn has won two Emmy Awards for HBO, and the Spider-Man villain Venom, which McFarlane co-created, gave rise to the feature film franchise of the same name, accumulating a worldwide box office total of more than $1 billion to date.

In launching its new television division, McFarlane Films reveals two new premium series in development:

The first is titled McFarland, a stop-motion, animated event series created by Thomas Lennon in partnership with ShadowMachine and wiip. The project is described as Night at the Museum meets Toy Story in Twin Peaks, which will feature original McFarlane Toys. McFarlane and Lennon will executive produce the series, along with Canino and ShadowMachine.

“It is a good bet that when you combine the forces of Todd McFarlane and Tom Lennon, good things will happen…and that those things will most likely happen in stop-motion animation. We’re thrilled to be a part of the fun!,” said ShadowMachine’s Alex Bulkley.

McFarlane Films has also partnered with Wiip and Epicenter (Judas and the Black Messiah) to develop the live-action drama series, Thumbs, based on the best-selling graphic novel written by Sean Lewis (Coyotes) with art by Hayden Sherman.  Anders Weidemann will adapt the project. The story follows 17-year-old Charlie “Thumbs” James, gamer and social outsider, who enters an esports tournament hoping to win a scholarship from tech billionaire Adrien Camus’ gamer academy so he can get his ticket out of his neighborhood.  “Thumbs” soon finds himself fighting real life and death battles in a covert war between Camus’ teenage army and a neo-fascist anti-tech movement that is about to take over the U.S.  Weidemann, McFarlane, and Canino will executive produce, along with Allard Cantor and Jarrod Murray through Epicenter, with Lewis on-board as a producer.

“It’s exciting, obviously, and a bit overwhelming as I remember buying Todd’s books at my local pharmacy store,” said Lewis. “And when someone wants to do your’s and Hayden’s comic, Thumbs, as a show, whoa! And that person is Todd McFarlane. Wait, what? I’ve been lucky enough to work with Todd on his comics, and he’s a force of nature. He tends to will things into existence. From day one, it’s just been forward momentum for this project.”

“The storyteller, father, and gamer within me all fell quickly and madly in love with Sean Lewis’ and Hayden Sherman’s graphic novel Thumbs, a vividly imaginative, fun-packed and disturbing ride into the not-too-distant future,” Weidemann added. “It’s a heart-pumping tale about gaming, the metaverse, and the entire fate of human existence. Simply put, it’s one of those stories I’d wish I was able to watch with my 12-year-old son. Hey wait: I will.”

“We were looking for a way to bring Sean Lewis’s timely graphic novel to life, and we thought entrusting comics legend Todd McFarlane to lead the charge would be a great start,” said Cantor and Murray. “We also couldn’t ask for better studio partners than ours at wiip, who are some of the smartest and most supportive creative minds in town. So, we turned to accomplished premium series creator, Anders Weidemann, to develop a serialized narrative that will captivate audiences everywhere.”

Todd McFarlane and McFarlane Films are repped by CAA.