Hit French series The Returned (Les Revenants) is getting an American remake. A&E Network has nabbed rights to the supernatural/suspense drama.

There is no writer in place but I hear the network is in discussions with Carlton Cuse, executive producer/co-showrunner of A&E’s breakout hit Bates Motel to take on the adaptation.

Created by Fabrice Gobert, Les Revenants was inspired by the 2004 feature film by the same name directed by Robin Campillo (English-language title They Came Back). It focuses on a small town that is turned upside down when several local people who have been long presumed dead suddenly reappear, having not aged and unaware of their own fatality. As they attempt to resume their lives, strange phenomena and gruesome murders begin to occur. “The Returned takes an incredibly unique approach, filled with suspense and twists and turns, to the subject of the living dead,” said A&E’s EVP and general manager David McKillop.

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"The Returned"
National networks in Norway, Finland and Iceland jump on the hit drama, which Zodiak Rights has sold to some 70 territories worldwide.

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Canal+ award-winning series, which scooped the International Emmy for best drama last year, has sold to public broadcasters in Norway (NRK), Finland (YLE) and Iceland (RUV) as it continues its global roll-out.

Zodiak Rights, which is handling world-wide sales to The Returned, has sold the show to more than 70 territories worldwide, including to Channel 4 and Universal Pictures in the U.K., to Sundance TV and Music Box for the U.S. and to Studiocanal in Germany. The Returned was the best-selling French TV series of 2013, earning Zodiak the TVF1 Export Prize.

Produced by Haut et Court TV for Canal+, the original French series is set in a small Alpine village in the shadow of a vast dam. Several local people begin to return home, unaware they died years ago. At the same time, the village is struck by a series of brutal murders that resemble the work of a serial killer from the past.

The second, 8-episode season of The Returned is currently in production and is set to air late this year. Many of the networks that picked up the show, including Sundance Channel, have renewed the show for its sophomore session.

A&E and Bates Motel executive producer Carlton Cuse have teamed up to make a U.S. adaptation of the French series.