Oblivion Song Movie, Based On A Comic From The Walking Dead Creator, Will Star Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal is trekking into oblivion.

The "Nightcrawler" and "Brokeback Mountain" actor is set to star in "Oblivion Song," a new movie based on the comic from "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman and collaborator Lorenzo De Felici ("Murder Falcon," "Infinite 8"). Gyllenhaal's production company, Nine Stories, will produce the film with Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment, where Kirkman, Riva Marker ("The Devil All the Time"), David Alpert ("Invincible"), Bryan Furst (the upcoming "Renfield"), and Sean Furst ("Daybreakers") will also serve as producers.

Variety reports that New Republic Pictures has optioned the rights to the Image Comics series, which kicked off in 2018 and is still ongoing.

Here is the official description of the comic from the Image Comics website:

A decade ago, 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them, but after many years, they gave up. Nathan Cole...won't. He makes daily trips, risking his life to try and rescue those still living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion. But maybe...Nathan is looking for something else? Why can't he resist the siren call of the Oblivion Song?

Gyllenhaal is set to play Nathan Cole, which sounds like the type of troubled, mysterious protagonist role he is particularly well-suited to play. He's always had a terrific ability to play haunted, damaged, and twisted characters (think "Donnie Darko," "Nightcrawler", "Prisoners," etc.) while also being conventional enough to play traditional leading man roles in films like "Source Code" and "Stronger."

"When faced with a cataclysmic event that permanently alters our lives, what would we choose to save?" producer Riva Marker said in a statement. "Just as Kirkman did with 'The Walking Dead' and 'Invincible,' in 'Oblivion Song,' he's created the potential for a franchise that is profoundly entertaining, and the perfect opportunity to explore big questions we're reckoning with globally." New Republic Pictures, the company which will produce films and shows based on the excellent The Secret History of Hollywood podcast, calls the "Oblivion Song" comics "a rare combination of spectacle, originality, and masterful, multivolume storytelling." Fingers crossed all of that Hollywood hype-speak translates into a movie that actually stands the test of time.

Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal has reunited with "Southpaw" director Antoine Fuqua for a thriller called "The Guilty," and he will also be seen in "Ambulance," a Michael Bay-directed action film about two robbers who steal an ambulance after a heist gone wrong.