Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in “Oblivion Song,” an adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’s graphic novel.
New Republic Pictures announced on Tuesday it optioned the rights to the story, with plans to turn it into a feature film. Gyllenhaal’s production company Nine Stories will produce the film with Riva Marker and Kirkman via his shingle Skybound Entertainment. At Skybound Entertainment, David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst will also serve as producers.
Kirkman is best known for co-creating “The Walking Dead” and “Invincible,” in addition to writing Marvel Comics such as “Ultimate X-Men” and “Irredeemable Ant-Man.” Released by Image Comics in 2018, “Oblivion Song” chronicles Nathan Cole, a man who makes daily trips to try and rescue those still living in Oblivion, an apocalyptic hellscape in Philadelphia that was lost a decade prior, along with 300,000 of its citizens.
“We couldn’t be more excited to find such great partners in New Republic and Nine Stories. Both companies have a tremendous reputation for premium storytelling at the highest level, and we can’t wait to see Jake bring this character to life on the big screen,” Kirkman said in a statement. “We are so fortunate to have assembled a team that is as passionate about this comic as we are.”
Marker, whose producing credits include Cary Fukunaga’s “Beasts of No Nation,” comedic drama “The Kids Are All Right” and Paul Dano’s Wildlife,” called “Oblivion Song” a “mind-blowingly captivating series.”
“When faced with a cataclysmic event that permanently alters our lives, what would we choose to save? Just as Kirkman did with ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Invincible,’ in ‘Oblivion Song,’ he’s created the potential for a franchise that is profoundly entertaining, and the perfect opportunity to explore big questions we’re reckoning with globally,” she said in a statement.
Veteran producers Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer, who run New Republic Pictures, added: “We are thrilled to partner with Nine Stories and Skybound to help bring Robert and Lorenzo’s visionary comic to life. ‘Oblivion Song’ is a rare combination of spectacle, originality, and masterful, multivolume storytelling, which is basically everything we love in the world.”
“Oblivion Song” is the first project announced under the first-look deal with New Republic and Nine Stories. New Republic has since announced first-look deals with Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton’s Dirty Films, Francis Lawrence’s About:Blank and Jude Law’s Riff Raff Entertainment.
Gyllenhaal will next star in Michael Bay’s action thriller “Ambulance” for Universal, as well as Antoine Fuqua’s “The Guilty” for Netflix.
The deal was negotiated by WME and attorney Carlos Goodman on behalf of Gyllenhaal and Nine Stories.