HBO Max has picked up the DC Comics adaptations DMZ, from executive producer Ava DuVernay, as a limited series.
The four-part series, created by Westworld veteran Roberto Patino, stars Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt. Patino will serve as showrunner on the Warner Bros. TV series and executive produce with DuVernay, who directed the pilot episode. Production on the show, based on the comic by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, is set for next year.
The series pickup comes 13 months after HBO Max ordered a pilot for DMZ.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this epic to the screen with my boundary-pushing partners at WBTV and HBO Max, a sublime cast led by Rosario and Benjamin, and my partner and friend, the inimitable and ever-inspiring Ava DuVernay,” said Patino. “DMZ offers up an explosive playground which, more than anything else, exalts the resilience of community and the human spirit. I can’t wait to welcome the die-hard fans of the comic books and new viewers alike to this intoxicating, haunting and inspiring world.”
DMZ is set in a near future where America is embroiled in a second civil war, which has left Manhattan as a ruined and isolated demilitarized zone. Dawson (USA’s Briarpatch, Hulu’s upcoming Dopesick) stars as Alma Ortega, a medic who begins a harrowing journey to find her son, who was lost when New York City evacuated at the outset of the war. Bratt (Law & Order, Fox’s Star) plays the leader of a powerful gang in the DMZ who has designs on ruling this new world.
As she searches for her son, Alma has to contend with militias, demagogues and warlords and becomes an unlikely source of hope.
The cast also includes Hoon Lee (Cinemax’s Warrior), Freddy Miyares (When They See Us) and Jordan Preston Carter (The Haves and the Have Nots).
“DMZ’s unflinching story of a country torn apart resonates eerily and profoundly amid our current state of the union,” said HBO Max head of original content Sarah Aubrey. “With the powerhouse visionary team of Ava and Roberto at the helm, bringing this critically acclaimed DC gem to life promises to entertain and inspire hope.”
DuVernay’s Array Filmworks produces with Warner Bros. TV. Executive producers Patino and DuVernay each have overall deals at Warner Bros. TV Group. The prolific DuVernay is also exec producing Netflix’s Colin in Black and White (which falls outside her WBTV deal), OWN’s Queen Sugar and Cherish the Day and unscripted shows at NBC and Netflix.
