Amazon is heading to North Carolina with the creators of Netflix’s drama Outer Banks.
The retailer and streamer has handed out an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for The Runarounds, a music drama that follows a post-high school band as they try to make it big. The series is not a spinoff of Outer Banks but it does feature the same group — The Runarounds — that was previously featured in a season three episode of the hugely popular young adult drama on Netflix.
From OBX co-creator Jonas Pate and with a teleplay from David Wilcox (Fringe), the fictional drama is inspired by the real band of the same name and will star the group’s members — William Lipton (General Hospital), Axel Ellis, Jeremy Yun, Zendé Murdock and Jesse Golliher — as well as Lilah Pate and Kelley Pereira. Lilah Pate, the daughter of The Runarounds creator Jonas Pate, has had a recurring role in OBX.
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Like Outer Banks, The Runarounds will be set and film in Wilmington, North Carolina. Skydance Television is the studio. Jonas Pate, who directed the 2022 pilot, will exec produce alongside Wilcox, Joon Yun, fellow OBX creators Josh Pate and Shannon Burke, as well as Lisa Mae Fincannon, Scott Lambert and Skydance TV’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Matt Thunell.
“When we first met with Jonas and Skydance about The Runarounds, it was immediately clear that they brought us a special show featuring an incredibly talented cast and real-life band,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “We are very much looking forward to sharing the exhilarating journey of The Runarounds with our global Prime Video customers.”
The Runarounds was formed as a band in 2021, when Jonas Pate issued a casting call for a group to appear on Outer Banks. The group first performed together when they played for Pate ahead of appearing in season three after being selected from a more than 5,000 musicians who responded to the casting call. At the time, Pate had already begun writing what ultimately became The Runarounds. The group filmed the pilot with Pate in 2022 and has since recorded an EP and gone out on tour.
Outer Banks, heading into its fourth season on Netflix, has become a breakout hit for the streaming giant. All three seasons are in Netflix’s top 50 shows of the first half of 2023.
The Runarounds becomes the fifth Skydance TV show at Amazon, joining Reacher, Jack Ryan, Cross, and a recently ordered action-adventure series starring Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham.
“I am thrilled to reunite with Jonas, David, Josh and Shannon on a show that is so personal to them, and so brimming with heart and soul. We are grateful to Amazon for their partnership, and we can’t wait for the world to meet The Runarounds,” said Matt Thunell, president, Skydance Television.
A premiere time frame for The Runarounds has not yet been determined.
