‘The Mafia Nanny’ Series Based On Webtoon Action Romance In Works At Hulu; Charlize Theron To EP

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu is developing The Mafia Nanny, a drama series based on Webtoon‘s popular action romance title. It comes from executive producer Charlize Theron and 20th Television.

This is believed to be the first English-language live-action series adaptation of Webtoon IP, which has been popular source material in Korean and Japanese television. (Webtoon and sibling Wattpad are owned by South Korea’s tech giant Naver.) One such adaptation, K-Drama The Remarried Empress, premieres on Hulu Nov. 4.

Written for TV by Max Gill, The Mafia Nanny centers on Davina who serves as an elite nanny to high-net-worth families. Her job should be straightforward: protect the charge, obey the client, and avoid becoming emotionally attached. But when Davina receives her first mission in the form of young Mikey Angelini, his imposing – and alluring – father threatens to drag her back into the world of organized crime she had tried to leave behind.

Gill executive produces with Theron, Beth Kono, AJ Dix and Matt Maher for Secret Menu, David Madden and Sera Tabb for Webtoon Productions and Dawn Olmstead for Steady Collective.

Created by Violet Matter and illustrated by sh00, Roususu and Drawniels, The Mafia Nanny webcomic has amassed 420 million global views. Theron’s Secret Menu optioned the property while Olmstead was running it; she has since launched her own company.

The Mafia Nanny brings Madden back into the 20th Television fold. Years ago, he was president of Fox Television Studios which was subsequently folded into Fox21 and ultimately into 20th TV.

Gill is developing shows with Netflix, Fifth Season, Chernin, and A24 and will soon be joining the writers room for Lena Dunham’s new Netflix series Covers. He is repped by WME, Entertainment 360, and Ziffren Brittenham.

On the TV side, Secret Menu, whose film credits include Apex, Atomic Blonde, The Old Guard franchise and Bombshell, has upcoming projects for HBO, Hulu, Netflix and AMC. The company also produced documentaries Last Call for HBO and Into the Fire for Netflix, as well as the competition series Hyperdrive for Netflix.

Olmstead, executive producer of Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and the original Prison Break series, is currently shooting the Prison Break reboot for Hulu and is producing Black List film Mommy’s Home, for Lionsgate. She has projects set up at Hulu, FX, HBO, Netflix, and Peacock.

Webtoon Productions’ recent and upcoming projects include Prime Video’s Lore Olympus, the Sidelined trilogy and Kissing is the Easy Part with Tubi; Wattpad adaptation Chasing Red, Prime Video’s Love Me Love Me and upcoming Love Me Love Me 2, among others. Recent and upcoming webcomic-based titles include Bloodhounds, My Daughter is a Zombie, Chicken Nugget and The Remarried Empress for Disney+/Hulu.