Heavy Metal comes back as a live-action French series

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

While we wait patiently for the new animated big screen version of HEAVY METAL, the French have other plans.

Well, for the small screen anyways…

French DVD house We Prods. is partnering up with publisher United Humanoids to produce METAL HURLANT CHRONICLES a live-action TV series based on a French anthology of sci-fi/fantasy graphic novels. Metal Hurlant is the French Heavy Metal title which translates as “howling metal”.

The show has already been pre-sold in more than 20 territories, including Italy, Germany, Poland and Russia. Negotiations are still going on with a French TV channel and a U.S. distributor.

The series will be directed by Guillaume Lubrano, co-founder of We Prods., each half-hour will be shot in English and French and will cover one or two stories adapted from the original graphic novels. The two parts of the pilot, “Red Light” and “Cold Hard Facts,” star David Belle (THE PRINCE OF PERSIA) and Jean Yves Berteloot (THE DA VINCI CODE).

Metal Hurlant was launched in 1974 and became popular amongst sci-fi fans in the 1980’s. The first two seasons, comprising 12 episodes, will be ready next January.

Seriously though, I’m really trying to be patient with the David Fincher produced anthology. There’s a lot of excitement here. Below are some stills from METAL HURLANT CHRONICLES.