‘Watchmen,’ ‘Kingsman’ Creator Dave Gibbons Sells Adaptive Rights to Graphic Novel Series ‘Treatment’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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Newly minted Madefire Studios has acquired content rights to Dave Gibbons’ science-fiction series “Treatment” and will be going out to filmmakers and writers shortly, Variety has learned exclusively.
Gibbons is renowned within the world of graphic novels for creating “Watchmen” with Alan Moore and “Kingsman” with Marc Millar. “Watchmen” is the best-selling graphic novel of all time; a TV series of the same name launches on HBO on Oct. 20, with the novel having received the big-screen treatment in 2009. The third feature film in the Kingsman franchise, “The King’s Man,” hits theaters in February for Disney/Fox.
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“Treatment” explores themes of inequality, crime reduction and corporate greed and presents a near-future hammered by three global recessions. With crime endemic and audiences craving ever more sensational entertainment, a global broadcast franchise is launched that deputizes ex-military personnel, former law enforcement, sports stars and entertainers from all over the world to hunt down and violently eliminate the worst criminals — streaming live for the masses.
The “Treatment” series is set in different international cities including Tokyo, Detroit, Seoul, Mexico City and San Diego, with each installation taking its name from its respective city. Gibbons wrote and drew “Detroit” and “Treatment HQ.” Subsequent episodes in the series were scripted and drawn by Kinman Chan, Doug Braithwaite, Robbie Morrison, Jimmy Broxton and John Floyd.
“Treatment” is one of 30,000 books available on Madefire, and is native to Madefire’s Motion Book format that uses sound, layers and motion to make the reading experience more immersive than print.
“Madefire has been at the cutting edge of publishing for years now, using technology to bring comic book stories alive,” said Gibbons. “I’m thrilled to have ‘Treatment’ be a part of their expansion into film and television and look forward to continuing our long and happy association.”
Gibbons is repped by Harris Miller, with Madefire repped by Karl Austen at Jackoway Austen, who also sits on Madefire’s advisory board.
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