Funcom’s ‘Secret World Legends’ Getting TV Treatment Via Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil

The dark and mysterious setting of Secret World Legends has begun making its way to television. Funcom announced a partnership with Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil production company to produce a TV series based on the massively multiplayer online role-playing turned shared world RPG.

Depp will serve as a producer for The Secret World TV series along with his sister Christi Dembrowski, plus Sam Sarkar and Gudrun Giddings. Pam Veasey (CSI: Cyber, The Tomorrow People, CSI: NY) will serve as the show runner, and the pilot was written by James V. Hart (Hook, Dracula, Contact) and Jake Hart.

The Secret World TV series will focus on a team of undercover agents as they deal with a shadow war between the secret societies of the Illuminati, the Dragon, and the Templar plus battle. There are supernatural forces also at play with creatures from multiple dimensions and ancient myth.

There’s no mention of a premiere date for the pilot yet or a mention of any cast members. It is presumably just starting production and has some work to get through before appearing in people’s homes.

For those unfamiliar, The Secret World originally launched in 2012 as a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The plot involves the three secret societies but is heavily vested in bringing works of horror from Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and other horror writers.

The game is grounded in a modern world setting as conspiracy theories help weave the tale. The plot and depth of characters are some of the strongest points of The Secret World. The episodic narrative of the game should lend itself naturally to a TV show format, as Giddings points out in the official announcement.

“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.”

Funcom recently rebooted The Secret World as Secret World Legends. The story elements remain the same, but the game moved towards a smaller player count instead of massively multiplayer, more action, and a free-to-play economy.

The reboot has been successful thus far as Secret World Legends has garnered “Mostly Positive” reviews from players on Steam. Funcom is currently in the middle of an event that will eventually unlock the Tokyo play space and wrap up the first season of content. The second season will arrive later in 2017, as previously covered.

[Featured Image by Funcom]