A dystopian sci-fi project from a former Pixar employee has landed at Peacock with UCP and Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door producing.

The streamer is adapting Skywatch, based on a short film written and directed by ex-Pixar artist Colin Levy, into a series after landing the rights in a competitive situation.

Skywatch started out as a ten-minute short film, which featured a brief appearance from Jude Law and was six years in the making with some Kickstarter contributions.

It tells the story of an outcast teen, who hacks into a ubiquitous drone delivery system to pull a prank on his school bully, he accidentally crashes a dangerous prototype – and finds himself entangled in a life-and-death conspiracy. You can watch the film below.

Levy, who has worked on films including Inside Out and Finding Dory, and his fellow Pixar colleague co-wrote a feature scripted based on the short film and UCP and Peacock have commissioned the pair to adapt this for television.

Levy, who will also direct, and Sundy will exec produce alongside Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door, Andre Danylevich of Lightning Hill Pictures, and Jon Huddle and Russell Hollander for Fourth Wall Management.

It marks the latest project in development for MacFarlane since he signed an overall deal at NBCUniversal. The Family Guy creator recently teamed up with She’s Gotta Have It writer Eisa Davis and Chadwick Boseman to develop a drama about Carlotta Walls, the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine, and is working with The Alienist’s Seth Fisher to adapt Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War and War and Remembrance

MacFarlane is known for his love of sci-fi. Fuzzy Door produced Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and the latest instalment Cosmos: Possible Worlds, as well as The Orville, which MacFarlane also stars in.

Jonathan Gardner at Cohen Gardner LLP reps Levy, Sundy and Danylevich, and negotiated the deal on their behalf. Levy and Sundy are repped by Fourth Wall Management. Levy is represented by ICM Partners. Fourth Wall is represented by McKuin Frankel Whitehead LLP.

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