Danish filmmaker Anders Walter, who won the 2014 Oscar for live-action short film with “Helium,” is to adapt French graphic novel “The Quest for the Time Bird” as a TV series. Walter made his feature film debut last year with another adaptation of a graphic novel, “I Kill Giants,” starring Madison Wolfe, Zoe Saldana and Imogen Poots.
Kim Magnusson, who produced “Helium” and was one of the producers on “I Kill Giants,” is attached to produce the series.
“The Quest for the Time Bird” tells the story of a sorcerer’s daughter and an aging warrior who set out on an epic journey to find the Time Bird in order to make the imprisonment of a dark god last for all eternity.
The graphic novel series, created by French comic-book masters Serge Le Tendre and Régis Loisel, was first published from 1983 to 1987 and, with more than 2 million copies sold, became one of the most popular titles on the European comic-book scene in the ’80s, and has since gained the status of a cult classic. Le Tendre and Loisel are now working on new stories for the book series.
“’The Quest for the Time Bird’ is an epic read with an emotional twist that will break your heart,” Walter said in a statement. “A true gem, full of adventure, madness and mayhem, and with an undercurrent of female empowerment and eroticism that makes for a very strong and inspiring female lead.”
“We are both very excited to have Anders adapt the story, who with both ‘Helium’ and, lately, ‘I Kill Giants’ has shown a unique sensibility as a storyteller that both Régis and I appreciate,” Le Tendre said.
“The Quest for the Time Bird” was first published in France by Dargard. Titan Comics released a collected edition in English in 2015.
Walter is represented by David Karp and Sarah Self at WME, and by Oliver Azis at Independent Talent.