24 producer Tony Krantz is come on to develop a TV adaptation of Rylend Grant’s Action Lab Entertainment the comic book Aberrant, Collider has exclusively learned.
Aberrant follows David Colbrenner, a U.S. Army Special Operations Commander,
who after losing his entire unit to a superhuman attack, wages an absolutely brutal
one-man war on the eccentric billionaire and former superhero, Lance Cordrey,
whom he believes is ultimately responsible. That is, until Nelson Little, the head of a
clandestine paramilitary outfit called Article 13, provides David with evidence that
Cordrey may be a patsy, and David’s men were killed as part of a vast and twisted
government/military conspiracy.
Grant, who has had two scripts voted to the Black List, will write the screenplay and executive produce alongside Krantz, who is developing Aberrant via his Flame Ventures banner. Ryan Colucci and Rising Spirit Films will also be involved in a producing capacity, having financed the comic -- which features art from Zsombor Huzska, Davi Leon Dias, Iwan Joko Triyono, and HdE.
Grant describes Aberrant as a modern political/conspiracy thriller in the vein of
Michael Clayton or Enemy of the State that explores how the United States’ military
and geopolitical agenda would change if super-powered individuals (the
“Aberrant”) walked among us. He likes to refer to his book as the karmic cousin of
groundbreaking 70’s mindbenders like The Conversation and Marathon Man.
“Aberrant is a military-slanted Three Days of the Condor,” said Grant, referring to the
1975 Sydney Pollack-helmed spy picture. “You know… if there was a
snarling superpowered badass waiting around every corner, hellbent on stomping a
mudhole in Robert Redford.”
Grant also addressed working with a veteran producer like Krantz, who also served as an executive producer on Felicity and Sports Night, in addition to the long-running 24 series. “Tony is one of the smartest people working in Hollywood today. He and Flame executive John-Eric Capps have shown a uniquely genuine passion and enthusiasm for the book. I honestly couldn’t be more excited," said Grant, who has recently penned screenplays for Justin Lin and F. Gary Gray. Krantz most recently produced NBC’s Dracula as well as Blood & Oil for ABC, and his latest TV endeavor, Wu Assassins, will premiere on Netflix next year.
Interestingly enough, Aberrant is considered the last major comic series created from within LA's pop culture bastion Meltdown Comics. The geekdom landmark sadly just
announced it would be closing its doors after 25 trendsetting years.
