'I'm A Killer Maid' TV Series, Based On A Popular Chinese Webcomic, Being Developed By Legendary

Hey, are you a killer maid? If so, you might be interested in I'm a Killer Maid, a new TV series being developed by Legendary from a series of popular Chinese webcomics. It's being hailed as a "rare example of Chinese IP being developed for an audience outside China," and is being described as "Mary Poppins turned John Wick...with shades of Freaky Friday and Killing Eve." Which is certainly something!

Variety has the scoop on the I'm a Killer Maid TV series, based on the webcomic from Tencent Comics. Per their report, the comic is "one of the Chinese platform's more popular titles, with a total of 1.66 billion views worldwide so far." The site for the comic has the following synopsis: "Hao Pingqiong, an obscure otaku cartoonist, hired a maid, Xiao Baicai, to clean the house, but the two exchanged bodies! What was even more unexpected to A Qiong was that Cabbage's true identity turned out to be a top killer, and the hilarious life began." While another comic site adds: "This is the story of a mangaka, a killer maid, and body swapping ramen, with a side of gratuitous violence and explosions."

The Variety report adds even more info: "After retiring from the assassin group Mountain Sea, lead character Bacai tries to live a normal life as a housemaid for a shy, nerdy comic book writer who rarely leaves his house, only to accidentally swap bodies with her boss." Legendary hopes that the TV adaptation will focus on "gender identity and expression, male/female dynamics and genre deconstruction."

The I'm a Killer Maid TV series will be produced by Tencent Pictures, with CEO and Tencent Group vice president Edward Cheng Wu serving as executive producer. Tencent Pictures' Wenxin She will oversee and serve as producer, with Vasco Xu will serving as an independent producer. The plan is to cast "a strong Asian female lead" and then surround the lead "with other diverse supporting characters who will appeal to a global audience, and treat LGBTQ themes with the greater care suitable to Western viewers."

There was already a made-for-streaming I'm a Killer Maid movie released in China, but the TV adaptation reportedly hopes to distance itself from the movie's tongue-in-cheek approach. Here's the trailer.

And here's the movie's synopsis:

In the bustling comic fair, Hao Pingqiong, a bottom-ranking cartoonist exchanges body with the No. 1 female killer Xiao Baicai. Their lives are intertwined. Now, Qiong lives no longer as a loser because he gains remarkable figure and super power, but he is in danger because he takes role of a killer. Baicai lives no longer as a killer, she doesn't need to worry about attack of enemies, but she has to take orders from the editor and is forced to experience the life of cartoonist. Experiencing the exchange of lives, they both have the chance to understand the good things of their own lives. At the critical moment, will they choose to restore everything?