Robert Kirkman Story Set for Korean Treatment

SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES: The digital platform Viki is teaming up with Skybound Entertainment to produce Five Year, a pre-apocalyptic series based on an original story by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, as a Korean drama.

Five Year is about a family living under the threat of a deadly meteor headed toward Earth. It will be filmed as a Korean drama that will take place over the course of five years with five seasons anticipated. The series will debut its first 16-episode season on Korean broadcast television and worldwide on Viki.

David Alpert, the president and co-founder of Skybound Entertainment, said: “As devoted fans of Korean cinema, television and culture, we’re thrilled to be launching what we hope is the first of many collaborations with the Korean entertainment industry. Five Year, which tells the story of one family dealing with the impending apocalypse, is the perfect property to launch our partnership. It highlights the intense interpersonal moments that Korean dramas capture so well, and sets them against the epic backdrop for which Skybound has become known.”

“In many ways, Viki and Skybound represent the future of global entertainment, particularly with Hollywood-Asia collaborations and VOD platforms like Viki leading distribution and fan-building,” said Tammy H. Nam, CEO of Viki. “We’re thrilled to be working with the creators and executive producers of one of the most popular TV series of all time. The fact that David and Robert wanted to make Five Year as a K-drama is a testament to the massive global popularity and quality of Asian programming.”

Five Year marks the second original series produced by Viki, following on the ten-episode miniseries Dramaworld.