On the heels of the good news that Cinemax has renewed its fun, violent, and gorgeously filmed series Banshee for a fourth season, the premium channel has also ordered Robert Kirkman's Outcast to series.

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Outcast was Kirkman's first pilot; he currently serves as an executive producer for The Walking Dead and author of the comics. Similar to The Walking Dead, Outcast is based on one of Kirkman's own works.

According to a press release from Cinemax, the series has been picked up for 10 episodes. The network jumped on the opportunity to produce the pilot last July, and it's not surprising that it has picked it up for a full run.

Here's a synopsis for the series/pilot, directed by You're Next helmer Adam Wingard:

Outcast follows Kyle Barnes, a young man who has been plagued by demonic possession all his life. Now, with the help of the Reverend Anderson, a preacher with personal demons of his own, Kyle embarks on a journey to find answers and regain the normal life he lost. But what Kyle discovers could change his fate — and the fate of the world — forever.

 

Patrick Fugit (“Gone Girl”) stars as Barnes, a man searching for answers, and for redemption, who sequesters himself from those he loves for fear of causing greater hurt. Philip Glenister (“Life on Mars”) stars as Reverend Anderson, a West Virginia evangelist who believes he is a soldier in God’s holy war against the forces of evil on Earth. An inveterate drinker and gambler, he doesn’t believe God intends people to sweat the small stuff. Gabriel Bateman (“Stalker”) stars as Joshua Austin, an eight-year-old who lives across town from Kyle. To his family’s dismay, he appears to be in the clutches of demonic possession, but there’s something very different about this possession and its connection to Kyle Barnes.

Outcast joins not only Banshee, but the exceptional series The Knick as part of Cinemax's now-expanded lineup of original programming. HBO's sister network is carving a unique niche out for itself, and given what Kirkman has been able to do over at AMC with his other series (and how many of those fans might be tempted to peek at this), it seems safe to say that Cinemax is making a play for the big leagues (and bigger viewership numbers).

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