EXCLUSIVE: Paradise Hills director Alice Waddington is set to board Netflix’s adaptation of Dept. H, which is based on the popular comic book series. The Maze Runner scribe T.S. Nowlin will adapt it. Produced by Dark Horse Entertainment, Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg.
After a world-renowned scientist is mysteriously shot dead at deep-sea station, his estranged child is sent to six miles below the surface in order to investigate. With the pressure building and the water rising, she must race against time to solve the murder as she uncovers the truth behind the station’s purpose.
Dept.H is a comic book series written and illustrated by Matt Kindt and colored by Sharlene Kindt. Dark Horse Comics published the comic in April 2016.
The film falls under the lucrative first look deal with Dark Horse Entertainment and Netflix and given the importance of this deal to the streamer, Dept. H is a high-priority with a director’s search taking months before finally zeroing in on Waddington.
Dark Horse and Netflix previously collaborated on one of Netflix’s most recent hits in the action-comedy series Umbrella Academy which is recently in production on its third season. They also worked on Jonas Åkerlund’s feature Polar starring Mads Mikkelsen. Upcoming film adaptations include Mystery Girl directed by McG and starring Tiffany Haddish and Lady Killer which Blake Lively will star in and produce. On the series side, Netflix has greenlit Grendel based on Matt Wagner’s groundbreaking story.
As for Waddington, the rising star in directing circles first broke on to the scene with her feature directorial debut on Paradise Hills,
which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and stars Awkwafina, Emma Roberts, Eiza González. WME and Exile Entertainment represent her.Nowlin has strong ties with Netflix having just penned there upcoming action-adventure The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds. Management 360 and Jeff Frankel are represented by Nowlin.
