Sam Claflin & Patrick Stewart To Star In ‘Barbaric’ Series Based On Comic In Works At Netflix From Sheldon Turner; Michael Bay Circling To Direct
Netflix is developing Barbaric, a TV series adaptation of the best-selling Vault comic, sources tell Deadline. Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & the Six, Peaky Blinders) is set to star and executive produce and Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, X-Men franchises) is attached to star in the project, from A+E Studios and Sheldon Turner and Jennifer Klein’s studio-based 100% Productions.
Written by Turner, with Michael Bay in talks to direct, Barbaric is described as Deadpool meets Game of Thrones for the way it mashes gonzo violence and humor, sources said. Set in a Medieval fantasy world, the series chronicles the journey of Owen (Claflin) – a barbarian cursed to do the right thing – and his talking (and horny) axe (voiced by Stewart) as they unite to take on a great evil.
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Turner and Klein executive produce through their newly renamed 100% Productions. F.J. DeSanto and Damian Wassel executive produce for Vault Comics; Claflin, Luke Carroll and Michael Stevenson for Cusp Films; along with Barry Jossen and Tana Jamieson for A+E Studios.
Reps for Netflix and A+E Studios declined comment.
Published in 2021 to strong reviews, the Barbaric comic is from co-creator and writer Michael Moreci and co-creator and artist Nathan Gooden. If the adaptation goes forward, it would mark Bay’s TV directing debut.
Known for his roles in Daisy Jones & The Six, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination, the Hunger Games franchise and Peaky Blinders, Claflin will next be seen as the lead of the latest The Count of Monte Cristo series adaptation.
Stewart is coming off reprising his signature Star Trek role in the Star Trek: Picard series.
100% Productions is repped by CAA and Gang, Tyre, Ramer. Claflin is repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group and Glaser, Weil, Fink. Stewart is repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group, Anonymous Content and Ziffren Brittenham. Vault Comics is repped by UTA.
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