Steven Yeun Is Teaming Up With Marvel Writers For New Series
The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun has found his new project. The actor is teaming up with Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin for a 1960s-era crime drama called The Islands. The series will air on the Peacock streaming service, and an air date has not yet been set.
According to an exclusive report from Deadline, not much is known about the crime drama, other than a simple synopsis from a press release. The Islands, set in Hawaii, is inspired by true events, and tells a story of American Imperialism, the fall of a kingdom, and the changing of a way of life. This will mark the first true collaboration for Justin Lin and Yeun. The two also worked on last year’s Space Jam: A New Legacy. Lin was an executive producer, and Steven Yeun had a cameo as a Warner Bros. executive in the LeBron James/Looney Tunes animated film. A start of production has not yet been set. The serialized crime drama, which may likely have an original Hawaii 5-0 vibe (considering it was produced in 1960s Hawaii), is produced by Universal Television and Lin’s Perfect Storm Entertainment and Yeun’s Universal Remote production company.
Lin has become one of Hollywood’s most prolific and successful producers and directors before his new team-up with Steven Yeun. He is directing both parts of the two-part Fast & Furious 10, the final film in the Vin Diesel action series. He is also currently producing the third season of HBO Max’s Warrior, based on a story by Bruce Lee. He is also executive producing NBC’s The Endgame.
Steven Yeun, who rose to fame playing Glenn Rhee on the AMC hit zombie series The Walking Dead, has been busy since he left the show. He is appearing next in Nope, Jordan Peele’s latest horror film, as well as Beef, a ten-part Netflix dramedy series he is also executive producing for Netflix. Ali Wong co-stars in the series, and follows two people who are emotionally consumed with their involvement in a road rage incident. He became the first Korean actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for 2020’s Minari, which was directed by Lee Isaac Chung and nominated for six Academy Awards. Yeun did not win, but his co-star, Youn Yuh-jung, won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. He recently signed a TV production deal with Amazon Studios.
Kaz and Ryan Firpo will write and executive produce the Steven Yeun series. The cousins are the writing team behind Marvel Studios’ Eternals, the highly-divisive superhero film directed by Chloe Zhao and starring Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden and Kumail Nanjiani. It went on to gross $400 million. The Firpos are among the hottest writers in Hollywood. Their upcoming projects include Mark Millar’s Prodigy for Netflix and The Aliens Are Stealing Our Weed, a sci-fi stoner comedy starring Gina Rodriguez. They are also developing Ruin, a World War II drama starring Margot Robbie. It tells the story of a former Nazi captain who seeks redemption by hunting down members of his former SS Death Squad.
