Search form

Gareth Coker to Score Studio Wildcard’s ‘ARK: The Animated Series’

The BAFTA-nominated composer is known for scoring Ubisoft’s ‘Immortals: Fenyx Rising and Microsoft’s upcoming ‘Halo Infinite.’

BAFTA nominated composer Gareth Coker (Halo: Infinite, Ori and the Will of the Wisps) will score ARK: The Animated Series, the recently announced original animated television series based on the hit video game ARK: Survival Evolved.

Renowned for his melodically driven emotional scores and unique soundscapes, Coker’s music has garnered numerous awards, including the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Award for Outstanding Music Composition and SXSW Award for Excellence in Musical Score, as well as nominations from BAFTA and IFMCA. The new series project follows Coker’s recent work, including the acclaimed original score for Moon Studios’ fantasy game, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, for which he was nominated for Best Score/Soundtrack at The Game Awards; and Ubisoft’s just released Greek mythology-inspired adventure game Immortals: Fenyx Rising, as well as upcoming game releases such as Microsoft’s highly anticipated sci-fi blockbuster Halo Infinite, slated for Fall 2021.

Created and executive produced by the game’s creators Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak, ARK: The Animated Series has an order for 14 30-minute episodes, with two seasons currently in production in anticipation of a 2022 launch. Studio Wildcard has partnered with director Jay Oliva (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox) to executive produce and co-showrun. The animation is being produced by Lex + Otis. Marguerite Bennett and Kendall Deacon Davis are writing the scripts.

The A-List voice cast includes Vin Diesel (Fast and Furious), Gerard Butler (300), Michelle Yeoh (Crazy Rich Asians), Devery Jacobs (American Gods), Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time), Deborah Mailman (Total Control), Zahn McClarnon (Doctor Sleep), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy), Ragga Ragnars (Vikings), David Tennant (Good Omens), Karl Urban (The Boys), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), and Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

ARK: The Animated Series chronicles the story of a mysterious primeval land populated by dinosaurs and other extinct creatures, where people from throughout human history have been resurrected. When 21st century Australian paleontologist Helena Walker awakes on the ARK after tragedy, she must learn to survive and find new allies, or die again at the hands of ruthless warlords -- all while trying to uncover the true nature of their strange new world.

In June 2015, ARK: Survival Evolved launched onto Steam’s Early Access program and since that time has amassed more than 35 million players worldwide across all gaming platforms, spurning spin-off games and gathering a huge following of passionate fans. Studio Wildcard has also announced that it is developing a sequel, ARK II, for next-gen platforms that will debut alongside the animated television series in 2022.

For more information on ARK, visit http://playark.com/.

Dan Sarto's picture

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.