SPAWN Creator Todd McFarlane Launches TV Production Unit with Two Shows in Development

Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has announced that he has launched a TV production unit, which is a production arm of McFarlane Films. He has already signed a first-look deal with the production company Wiip, who recently produced the HBO series Mare of Easttown.

McFarlane and his President of Television, Sean Canino, have a goal of identifying and developing new emerging talent, creator-owned properties, independent brands, stories, and characters. They are launching the business with two new series projects that they are putting into development right now. These two shows are in additional to the long-in-development TV adaptation of Sam & Twitch, which McFarlane says is still in the works.

The additional TV projects are being developed by Thomas Lennon, co-creator of Reno 911! and writer of Night at the Museum; Anders Weidemann, who adapted HBO's Beartown and created Paramount +'s Interrogation; prolific graphic-novel author, Sean Lewis; and ShadowMachine, who produced Bojack Horseman and Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming Pinocchio.

McFarlane shared in a statement, "Having been in development with Jason Blum at Blumhouse, along with attaching Jamie Foxx on a potential Spawn movie franchise, other opportunities both in film and television came forward which led to this expansion in entertainment. Films, television, and video games are all areas I intend to spend my creative energy on a steady basis."

He went on to say, "I've spent decades succeeding in other business fields, going up against some of the biggest names in those industries (Marvel, DC Comics, Hasbro, and Mattel toys) and have been able to bring to market many successful products and ideas those larger companies were not able to give to consumers. I now intend to take those same creative and business practices into Hollywood full-time. As a creator first and CEO of my businesses, I pride myself on finding talented creators and inspiring ideas… then bring them to the world. Two of our newest projects, (one live-action the other stop-motion animation) have talented folks that will help get these new concepts onto the airwaves. Thomas Lennon, Anders Weidemann, Sean Lewis, our partners at wiip, and ShadowMachine are but a few of the folks we've begun this journey with."

As for the projects that are being produced, the first is titled McFarland, which is a stop-motion, animated event series created by Thomas Lennon in partnership with ShadowMachine and wiip. It’s described as Night at the Museum meets Toy Story in Twin Peaks, which will feature original McFarlane Toys.

ShadowMachine's Alex Bulkley said in a statement, "It is a good bet that when you combine the forces of Todd McFarlane and Tom Lennon, good things will happen...and that those things will most likely happen in stop-motion animation. We're thrilled to be a part of the fun!.”

The other project is a live action drama series titled Thumbs, coming from Wiip and Epicenter (Judas and the Black Messiah). The series is based on the best-selling graphic novel written by Sean Lewis (Coyotes) with art by Hayden Sherman.  The story follows 17-year-old Charlie "Thumbs" James, gamer and social outsider, who enters an esports tournament hoping to win a scholarship from tech billionaire Adrien Camus' gamer academy so he can get his ticket out of his neighborhood.  "Thumbs" soon finds himself fighting real life and death battles in a covert war between Camus' teenage army and a neo-fascist anti-tech movement that is about to take over the U.S. 

Weidemann, McFarlane, and Canino will executive produce, along with Allard Cantor and Jarrod Murray through Epicenter, with Lewis on-board as a producer. Anders Weidemann will adapt the project.

Lewis shared, "It's exciting, obviously, and a bit overwhelming as I remember buying Todd's books at my local pharmacy store. And when someone wants to do your's and Hayden's comic, Thumbs, as a show, whoa! And that person is Todd McFarlane. Wait, what? I've been lucky enough to work with Todd on his comics, and he's a force of nature. He tends to will things into existence. From day one, it's just been forward momentum for this project."

Weidemann added, "The storyteller, father, and gamer within me all fell quickly and madly in love with Sean Lewis' and Hayden Sherman's graphic novel Thumbs, a vividly imaginative, fun-packed and disturbing ride into the not-too-distant future. It's a heart-pumping tale about gaming, the metaverse, and the entire fate of human existence. Simply put, it's one of those stories I'd wish I was able to watch with my 12-year-old son. Hey wait: I will."

Cantor and Murray went on to say, "We were looking for a way to bring Sean Lewis's timely graphic novel to life, and we thought entrusting comics legend Todd McFarlane to lead the charge would be a great start. We also couldn't ask for better studio partners than ours at wiip, who are some of the smartest and most supportive creative minds in town. So, we turned to accomplished premium series creator, Anders Weidemann, to develop a serialized narrative that will captivate audiences everywhere."

It’ll be interesting to see how these first two projects turn out and also to see what other projects end up being produced by McFarlane’s new TV production unit.