A&E Developing Adaptation of French Drama The Returned

A&E has announced that an English adaptation of acclaimed French zombie drama The Returned (Les Revenants) is in the works. The series, which will be a co-production between A&E Studios and Haut et Court TV SAS, will reportedly have its development overseen by Bates Motel‘s Carlton Cuse, whose deal to join the project is said to be near completion.

“The Returned takes an incredibly unique approach, filled with suspense and twists and turns, to the subject of the living dead,” said David McKillop, General Manager and Executive Vice President of A&E Network. “Part mystery, part thriller; The Returned is a perfect complement to A&E’s unique brand of scripted storytelling.”

Based on the 2004 film They Came Back from Robin Campillo, The Returned tells the story of a seemingly idyllic French mountain town grappling with the sudden reappearance of several people who were long thought dead. They haven’t aged since the time of their demise and carry no memory of what happened to them, making their reassimilation into society that much more difficult. Not helping matters is the fact that their resurrection rouses buried secrets to the surface of the town and coincides with a series of gruesome murders that match the M.O. of a serial killer from the past.

Among those featured in The Returned’s expansive cast are Anna Consigny (A Christmas Tale), Samir Guesmi (District B13), Alix Poisson (Micmacs), Laetitia de Fombelle (Lights Out), and Pierre Perrier (American Translation).

Do you think an English adaptation of The Returned could stack up to the French version? How different do you expect the show, should it be picked up to series, to be from ABC’s upcoming Resurrection? Since an American television network is already set to begin showing Les Revenants this year, is an adaptation even necessary at this point, no matter how quality a premise it might have?