The Sundance Channel is getting into the zombie game — with a French twist.
Following in the zombie wake of “The Walking Dead” and “World War Z,” Sundance has acquired the eight-part French zombie series “The Returned.” Appropriately enough, it will premiere on Halloween.
Also read: ‘The Walking Dead’ Course on Hypothetical Zombie Apocalypse Offered by AMC & UC Irvine
Based on the Robin Campillo feature film “Les Revenants,” the series is set in an idyllic French mountain town, where a seemingly random collection of people find themselves in a state of confusion as they attempt to return to their homes. What they don’t know yet is that they have been dead for several years, and no one is expecting them back.
As they struggle to rejoin their families and past lovers, they grapple with a miraculous and sinister new reality: It seems they aren’t 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.
Caroline Benjo, Jimmy Desmarais and Carole Scotta from Haut et Court produced the series.
Also read: Hollywood’s Zombie Overload: Why Flesh-Eater Pitches Are a Tough Sell
“We decided to take zombies to a new and utterly original level– we made them French!” Sundance Channel president Sarah Barnett said. “‘The Returned’ is smart entertainment that shocks and entertains at every turn. We think our audience will love how this series grounds the supernatural in deeply human emotions.”
The only question is, will the grunts of the undead sound any different with a French accent?