Warner Bros. Animation, which has been on a roll at Annecy this year, unveiled its new “Dark Shadows” animated series at Annecy on Friday, confirming the studio’s push to expand its adult animation beyond adult comedy and into other genres.
The show, which reimagines the cult 1960s TV series, is in the very early stages of development, with Lisa Holdsworth, creator of Channel 4’s The Dreamers and writer of Sky’s A Discovery of Witches and the BBC’s Call the Midwife, set to be executive producer and showrunner. Kathy Curtis, Tracy Curtis, Eric Homan, Kevin Kolde, and Fred Seibert will serve as executive producers.
The announcement was made Friday at the WBA Adult Animation Showcase at Annecy’s Mifa Market, hosted by Shareen Desai, Warner Bros. Animation’s senior vice president of creative, and Peter Girardi, executive vice president of alternative programming.
Released in 1967, this supernatural family story won over many teenagers thanks to the introduction of vampire Barnabas Collins, played by family member Jonathan Frid, and became ABC’s highest-rated daytime series, spawning multiple spin-offs, including Tom Burton’s 2012 film starring Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer.
A new version is under development. It remains to be seen what Warner Bros. Animation will do with the new series. WBA used Adult Animation Sessions to provide a more in-depth look at some of the biggest announcements at the French Animation Festival, and indeed Annecy, this week.
These include green-lighting series development for Absolute Batman, which is based on a popular comic book series, DC’s first animated series, Joker: Rough Riot, and, as noted by WPA, the development of series Krypto, which will involve some of DC’s biggest superheroes and supervillains, and offer a wide range of styles, tones, and stories for audiences of all ages.
These major Warner Bros. Animation and DC productions announced at Annecy on Wednesday followed the world premiere of Batman: Knightfall, the first in a planned animated feature trilogy.
One of the biggest comic book events of the 1990s, starring Anson Mount and Michael Mando, unveiled Robin, who had rarely been seen on film before, to thunderous applause in Annecy on Tuesday, Variety reported.
At Friday’s Adult Animation Showcase, Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera Studios also unveiled the first images of the Gerry Anderson-inspired puppet TV series “Hit Squad,” giving an enthusiastic crowd a ton of footage.
Director Girardi said: “I’m really excited to bring this brand new series written by Gerry Anderson in the late 1970s to the screen.” “With upgraded puppetry and a blend of CG and practical effects, “The Hit Squad” combines action and dark humor created by both Hanna-Barbera Europe and the Warner Bros. animation teams.”
Returning to Adult Swim’s new family show Keeping Up with the Joneses, the WBA duo described the upcoming series as “bringing the ‘family comedy’ genre to Adult Swim’s longtime partners and friends with character-based comedy, with an emphasis on original stories.”
One of Warner Bros. Animation’s fastest growing divisions with titles like Harley Quinn and The Kite Man, the Adult Animation team has pioneered new animated stories while pushing the boundaries of both WBA and DC Studios’ legacy IP. “We don’t have a house style,” Girardi added. “Instead, we let the show dictate that.”
To prove the point, the two shared previously released early development images of the upcoming “Absolute Batman” series, giving Bonlieu a stand-up at DC Studios’ showcase on Wednesday.
Even more true evidence of this approach is undoubtedly “Get Jiro.” This project has been seven years in the making and has long been one of Annecy’s most anticipated projects. Following an in-progress session in 2025, on Friday the pair hosted attendees at a screening of the first episode of the series at Mipha’s largest venue, Volière, revealing the post-apocalyptic setting of the culinary revenge-driven half-hour show.
Animation fans were in for a very tasty treat as this episode introduced the villain and set the tone for the brutal show, co-created with Joel Rose and based on the best-selling Vertigo series by the late Anthony Bourdain.
John Hopewell contributed to this article.
