Dim the lights — Yahoo will premiere Tom Hanks's long-awaited, animated web series "Electric City" on July 17, the company announced Monday.
The Playtone- and Reliance Entertainment-created series, released in four to six minute videos, will be paired with Jump Games' iOS and Android apps, to offer a role-playing game that features main characters from the series and digital comic books that expand the mythology.
"Every now and then, storytelling and technology unite in a fun and surprising way," Playtone Partner Gary Goetzman said in a statement. "'Electric City' brings viewers into a totally unique world through a truly immersive online experience whether they're at home on their computers or mobile on their tablets and smartphones."
The series, Yahoo's first original scripted show, marks a push by the dot-com colossus into the web video market. Earlier this year, TheWrap reported that Hanks chose Yahoo to circumvent the business-as-usual Hollywood types he said were more averse to creative experimentation.
Also read: Why Tom Hanks Chose Yahoo For 'Electric City'
In "Electric City," Hanks, who also stars as a voice actor, spins the tale of a futuristic city billed as a technological utopia, with a dark and violent underbelly. Jeanne Tripplehorn, Holland Taylor, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Antoon, Chris Parnell, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Georg Stanford Brown lend the voices alongside the "Forrest Gump" star.