Jake Gyllenhaal to headline film adaptation of ‘Oblivion Song’

By PTI

LOS ANGELES: Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in and produce “Oblivion Song”, a big-screen adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’s graphic novel of the same name.

Released by Image Comics in 2018, “Oblivion Song” follows the story of Nathan Cole, a man who makes daily trips to try and rescue those still living in Oblivion, an apocalyptic hellscape in Philadelphia that was lost a decade prior, along with 300,000 of its citizens.

According to Variety, Gyllenhaal will back the film via his Nine Stories banner along with Riva Marker and Kirkman, best known for co-creating “The Walking Dead” series, via his shingle Skybound Entertainment.

Kirkman, whose credits also include “Invincible” and Marvel Comics such as “Ultimate X-Men”, said he is looking forward to Gyllenhaal bring the story to life.

“We are so fortunate to have assembled a team that is as passionate about this comic as we are,” he added.

Marker, whose producing credits include “Beasts of No Nation” and “Wildlife”, described “Oblivion Song” as a “mind-blowingly captivating series”.

“Just as Kirkman did with ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Invincible’, in ‘Oblivion Song’, he’s created the potential for a franchise that is profoundly entertaining, and the perfect opportunity to explore big questions we’re reckoning with globally,” she said.

Veteran producers Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer of New Republic Pictures, which has optioned the rights to the story, said they are elated to collaborate with Nine Stories and Skybound to help bring Kirkman and De Felici’s visionary comic to life.

“‘Oblivion Song’ is a rare combination of spectacle, originality, and masterful, multivolume storytelling, which is basically everything we love in the world,” they said.

Gyllenhaal will next star in Antoine Fuqua’s Netflix film “The Guilty”, scheduled to have its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival in September, and Michael Bay’s “Ambulance” for Universal.