Netflix Orders Series Adaptation of Charles Burns’ ‘Black Hole’ Graphic Novel, New Regency to Co-Produce

In a competitive situation, Netflix has given a straight-to-series order to an adaptation of the Charles Burns graphic novels “Black Hole,” Variety has learned.

The project hails from New Regency, which will co-produce the series with Netflix. Jane Schoenbrun is attached to develop the graphic novels for television as well as direct. Plan B will executive produce along with Burns as well as Erin Levy and Yariv Milchan, Arnon Milchan, Natalie Lehmann, and Laura Delahaye for New Regency.

The official logline states:

“There’s an old myth that haunts the seemingly perfect small town of Roosevelt: if you have sex too young, you’ll contract the ‘bug,’ a virus that literally turns you into a ‘monster’ from your worst nightmares. Absurd, right? That’s what Chris always assumed, until, after one reckless night at the beginning of senior year, she finds herself infected. Now she’ll be cast out to the woods to live with the other infected, where a chilling, new threat emerges: a serial killer who’s hunting them one-by-one.”

This marks the latest attempt to adapt “Black Hole” for the screen, but the first such attempt for television. Previously, numerous studios and creative teams have tried to produce a film version, though none ultimately moved forward. Most recently, in 2018, “Dope” director Rick Famuyiwa was to write and direct a film version produced by New Regency and Plan B. The graphic novels were originally published between 1995 and 2005, with a collected edition released in the latter year.

Schoenbrun recently wrote and directed the A24 film “I Saw the TV Glow,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. They are also known for their films “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” and the upcoming feature “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” the latter of which is also a Plan B production.

They are repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

New Regency’s recent TV slate includes “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” at Amazon, the “Malcolm in the Middle” revival at Disney+, and the upcoming Netflix adaptation of “Man on Fire” starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The company has also produced films such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Revenant,” “12 Years a Slave,” and “Heat.”