Tweet
About three years ago Guillermo del Toro started shopping his vampire book series The Strain around to TV networks. Today we've learned that the series finally ended up at FX, and LOST's Carlton Cuse will be the series showrunner and executive producer. As for Del Toro, he will be co-writing, directing and executive producing the pilot that was ordered. Del Toro's book co-writer Chuck Hogan will also co-write the series. According to Del Toro, taking the series to FX was the right choice for them,
FX made the most sense, based on the level of commitment, passion and understanding of the concept of the book. They got behind the idea of making this a close-ended series; we wanted to follow the books closely and so it couldn’t be open-ended, but rather three to five seasons max.
The Strain book trilogy is a vampire bioterror thriller that tells the story of an outbreak in the U.S. of a virus that either kills those who are exposed to it or turns them into vampires. This is a very hardcore gritty vampire story and is the complete opposite of what the vampires are like in Twilight. This is Del Toro's vision, so you know it's going to be good!
The original plan envisioned the books as an event series unfolding over three seasons, and it seems like that's still the plan. They will start writing the script at the end of the year and prep a pilot that will shoot in September of next year, after the director’s epic film Pacific Rim opens in July. Del Toro goes on to say that he will direct as many episodes as he can through the life of the series, which shows his level of commitment.
I have no doubt that this is going to end up being a great series, and I'm excited to see how it turns out. What do you think about The Strain becoming a TV series?
Here's the description of the book:
High-concept thriller with a supernatural edge from world-famous director, whose films include Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy. A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously 'goes dark', stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised. When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead -- although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads. The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that's the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity.
