Funcom surprisingly announced today that a TV series based on The Secret World will be produced by Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil company, which so far has released The Rum Diary, Hugo, Dark Shadows, The Lone Ranger and Mortdecai.
Depp himself alongside his sister Christi Dembrowski, Sam Sarkar and Gudrun Giddings will produce together with showrunner Pam Veasey (CSI: NY). The pilot was written by James V. Hart and Jake Hart.
Funcom CEO Rui Casais said:
The Secret World universe is full of stories just waiting to be told. From secret societies to myths and legends that are all coming true, The Secret World captures some of humanity’s greatest mysteries and asks “what if?”. As the developers of The Secret World and Secret World Legends, we think it is a fantastic premise for a television show and one we hope will capture the collective imagination of the audience.
Gudrun Giddings, who optioned the media rights back in 2012, said:
It is one of the most character-driven and well-developed games I know of Hence it naturally lends itself to fantastical storylines with intriguing characters, a thrilling, and binge-worthy international TV show.
Sam Sarkar, who developed the project from its inception with Gudrun Giddings, added:
From the moment Gudrun first brought this to me, I loved this property. I live for conspiracy theory. I don’t believe it, but I love it. This is the secret story of the people who rule the people who rule the world.
Funcom recently rebranded The Secret World into Secret World Legends, a free-to-play game which recently launched on Steam. Chris reviewed it and rated the game 7.5:
Secret World Legends is far from perfect, but it's certainly captivating. With storytelling unsurpassed in the MMO genre, it features some incredibly compelling narrative and development, set in an atmospheric world. It isn't without its problems, with a dull at best combat system and irritating limitation on the number of quests you can carry. If you're looking for a unique and interesting story, this is the game for you, so long as you can live with some flaws.
