The premiere issue hitting comic book shops earlier this year, Image Comics’ “Thief of Thieves” is headed to the small screen. AMC announced today that the adaptation is in development from The Walking Dead executive producer/writer Robert Kirkman and Chic Eglee (“The Shield,” “Dexter”).
“The Walking Dead” executive producer David Alpert and Kirkman reunite with Eglee, who will serve as showrunner. All three also serve as executive producers on the new series. The first issue of the comic book is officially described as follows:
Conrad Paulson lives a secret double life as master thief Redmond. There is nothing he can’t steal, nothing he can’t have… except for the life he left behind. Now, with a grown son he hardly knows, and an ex-wife he never stopped loving, Conrad must try to piece together what’s left of his life, before the FBI finally catch up to him… but it appears they are the least of his worries.
“Much like ‘The Walking Dead’ brought horror to television in a unique and groundbreaking way, I feel ‘Thief of Thieves’ can do the same thing for heist stories, showing the humanity of all the characters, including the criminals,” explains Kirkman, who created “The Walking Dead” comic in 2003 and still writes each issue, among many other titles.
“AMC recognizes the limitless ideas generated by the comic industry,”says Kirkman. “Their dedication to bringing ‘The Walking Dead’ to life as a TV show has been key to its success and I’m excited about the potential of ‘Thief of Thieves’ to reach similar levels of success.”
According to Kirkman, “Working with AMC has been a tremendously positive experience and I’m looking forward to continuing and strengthening our relationships there and I can’t neglect to mention I’ve been dying to work with Chic again since we wrapped on The Walking Dead Season 1.”
Circle of Confusion partner Alpert adds, “It’s incredibly exciting to put the band back together with Robert, Chic and AMC; it just feels great.
Kirkman developed “Thief of Thieves” based upon his experience in the writer’s room of “The Walking Dead” after observing how the ideas got more creative and thrilling when a group of talented writers were working together to make the show as interesting as possible. The first arc of the comic is being written by Nick Spencer and Shawn Martinbrough is the artist. Kirkman created the story and has a “head writer” in charge of each arc of “Thief of Thieves.”
