Ark: The Animated Series debuts in North America on Paramount+, ahead of international release

By John Freeman on March 22, 2024

Paramount+ has released the first six episodes of Ark: The Animated Series, an all-new original series co-written by comics writer Marguerite Bennett (Bombshells, Josie and the Pussycats, InSeXts, Animosity) and Kendall Deacon Davis, an animation and gaming luminary who honed his craft on Microsoft’s Halo 4, and the BAFTA-nominated Wolf Among Us.

Based on the hit adventure video game ARK: Survival Evolved, the opening episodes of the first season are available to stream now exclusively on Paramount+ in the US and Canada. The series will debut in all other Paramount+ international markets starting Friday 19th April, and part two of the season will debut with seven new episodes at a later date.

Check out a trailer here on YouTube

The animated series features an impressive voice cast that includes Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Russell Crowe (The Loudest Voice), Gerard Butler (Plane), David Tennant (Doctor Who), Oscar nominees Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) and Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy), Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time), and Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious franchise).

An animated adaptation of the hit video game featuring Yeoh, Butler, Crowe and Diesel, Ark: The Animated Series is a sweeping saga spanning eons of human history. When 21st century paleontologist Helena Walker (Madden) finds herself resurrected on a mysterious primeval island populated by prehistoric beasts, she must learn to survive with new allies from throughout time, while trying to uncover the true nature of their strange new world.

A production of Lost Continent Entertainment and Lex + Otis, Ark: The Animated Series is executive produced by Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak, alongside Marc Diana, Doug Kennedy, Jay Oliva, James Baldanzi, Vin Diesel and Samantha Vincent for ONE Race Films; Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel for G-Base Entertainment; and Russell Crowe. Stieglitz, Oliva, David Hartman and Sebastian Montes serve as directors.

ARK: Survival Evolved (stylised ARK) is action-adventure survival video game, an original creation of game developer Studio Wildcard, launched in 2017. In the game, players must survive being stranded on one of several maps filled with roaming dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters, and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players.

• ARK: Survival Evolved is online at playark.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.