EXCLUSIVE: What started with a viral short will become a shortform series. Quibi said today that it is developing a Code 8 spinoff series starring cousins Robbie Amell and Stephen Amell, who also topline the independent sci-fi thriller that hits theaters Friday. The film’s director Jeff Chan will helm the Quibi series and write it with the film’s scribe Chris Paré.
The crowdfunded feature is set in a world where 4% of the population is born with supernatural abilities — but instead of being treated as heroes, they are feared and heavily policed. The series will take place years after the events of the movie, centering around an ex-con (Robbie Amell) and telekinetic drug dealer (Stephen Amell) who are forced to work together to bring down a dangerous trafficking ring run by corrupt cops and the city’s elite.
Robbie Amell and Stephen Amell launched a funding bid on Indiegogo for the pic in 2016, with an aim to turn their short film into a feature. They sought an initial $200,000, but ended up raising $2.4 million with more than 27,000 backers. You can watch the short below.
The series will be produced by Colony Pictures with Chan, the Amells, Pare, and XYZ Films –, which acquired global rights to the movie at Berlin this year — as executive producers.
Robbie Amell is repped by WME, Protégé Entertainment, Strategic and Felker Toczek; Stephen Amell is with CAA, GGA, Leverage and Sloane Offer; and Chan is represented by WME and Jackoway Austen. Quibi, the shortform digital platform run by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, launches April 6.