EXCLUSIVE: Fifteen years after horror anthology Tales from the Crypt ended its seven-year-run on HBO, a new TV series based on the popular and controversial 1950s EC Comics anthology is in the works with Gil Adler, producer on the HBO Crypt series, and Andrew Cosby, co-creator of Syfy hit Eureka and co-founder of comic book publisher BOOM! Studios. The new hourlong series will neither be anthological nor related to the HBO show. “It will be an ongoing series that uses characters from the comic books in a more modern context,” Cosby said. “It’s all about continually elevating the genre, for both existing fans of the source material and mainstream audiences.” Cosby and Adler first started discussing reviving the franchise on TV and then approached Joel Eisenberg, whose company with Timothy Owens EMO Films had partnered with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., the rightsholder of all EC-related properties, which is run by he late Crypt creator Gaines’ daughter Cathy Gaines Mifsud, to exploit those properties. After a lengthy legal process to make sure that all rights have been properly secured, the TV series project is now moving forward with William M. Gaines Agent and EMO on board. Producing are Adler, Cosby and Steven Sawalich of Articulus Entertainment. Eisenberg will executive produce, while William Gaines’ grandson Corey Mifsud will be credited as associate producer.

A detailed pitch and a bible for the new Crypt series have been completed, with producers expected to take the project out shortly. It will be pitched to broadcast networks as part of the current development cycle as well as to cable outlets. (There had been some rumblings about potential interest from HBO sister channel Cinemax, which has returned to original programming.) The producers are considering both a traditional network model and non-traditional route for the project, including fully financing the series, probably as an international co-production, before taking it to U.S. nets.