Music Box Films announced today that it has acquired all U.S. rights to the eight-part French mini-series “The Returned” (aka “Rebound”) from Zodiak Rights. Created by Fabrice Gobert and produced by Caroline Benjo, Jimmy Desmarais and Carole Scotta of Haut et Court, “The Returned” is based on the feature film Les Revenants by Robin Campillo. This gripping and stylish supernatural drama was ahit for France’s Canal+, and its debut on UK’s Channel 4 averaged 1.5 million viewers.

Following a soon-to-be-announced major US television channel premiere in October, Music Box Films Home Entertainment will release “The Returned” on VOD platforms January 1, 2014 and DVD/Blu-Ray January 21.

In an idyllic French mountain town, a seemingly random collection of people find themselves in a state of confusion as they attempt to return to their homes. What they do not yet know is that they have been dead for several years, and no one is expecting them back. As they struggle to reintegrate with their families and past lovers, buried secrets emerge and new mysteries develop as they grapple with a miraculous and sinister new reality. But it seems they are not the only ones to have returned from the dead. Their arrival coincides with a series of gruesome murders which bear a chilling resemblance to the work of a serial killer from the past.

President of Music Box Films William Schopf negotiated the deal with Zodiak’s Glen Hansen. Music Box Films and Zodiak have previously collaborated on the successful release of the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy of international best-selling novels beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the award-winning Swedish series Henning Mankell’s “Wallander.”

“‘The Returned’ epitomizes the very best of the crop of outstanding international television productions finding its way onto US screens,” says Schopf. “We couldn’t be more excited about working with Zodiak and Haut et Court to introduce this extraordinary series to American audiences.”

“We are delighted to once again be partnering with Music Box Films to give this fantastic and internationally-acclaimed French series the attention it deserves, and we look forward to working closely with them in coordinating the release strategy of ‘The Returned’ across all media platforms in the US,” says Glen Hansen, SVP Sales, Acquisitions & Co-Productions North America, Zodiak Rights.

“It is an incredible honor,” says Haut et Court Caroline Benjo, “to have our series reach American audiences. American TV and cinema have always been for us the ultimate landmark of the zombie genre, and our idea with ‘The Returned,’ was to play with the genre and be an homage to it at the same time.”