HBO Boss Give Update on Game of Thrones Prequels
The prequels and spin-offs to HBO’s hit fantasy epic Game of Thrones are moving along, but it will be a while before they hit the small screen. According to what HBO president Casey Bloys told Deadline Hollywood:
There is not going to be anything in any scenario where we have any sort of prequel air for at least a year after that. I want the final season of Game of Thrones to be the final season of Game Of Thrones, I don’t want to use it to launch something else, I want it to stand as the finale of the greatest tv show of all time, I don’t want to do anything that infringes on that.
When asked how many GoT-related shows would come out of the current development process, he said “anywhere form zero to five but probably more likely around one”. As for the alternate history series Confederate from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss that caused so much controversy when it was announced, that is apparently on hold until they are finished working on the final season of Game of Thrones.
Bryan Fuller Joins On with Vampire Chronicles Series
Bryan Fuller, who recently departed from Starz’s American Gods due to creative differences, has found a new series to keep him busy. He has come onboard the development process for the television series based on Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books. Rice and her son Christopher have already been working on the television adaptation and now they have lured Fuller to help with the early stages and possibly stay on as showrunner. As a teenager, Fuller had contacted Rice indicating that he wanted to do a movie based on her books, and now he will get the chance to work on the TV series. Fuller is also committed to Apple’s Amazing Stories reboot, and it is unclear at this point if that will limit the time he has to work on The Vampire Chronicles.
Development News: Snowpiercer, Chambers, See, and More
TNT has officially ordered the Snowpiercer TV series after viewing the pilot that it previously put into development. Based on the 2013 post-apocalyptic film of the same name and starring Jennifer Connelly (Dark City, Spider-Man Homecoming), TNT’s executive vice president of original programming Sarah Aubrey had the following to say about the series:
I’m a personal fan of Bong Joon-Ho’s epic film, and jumped at the chance to honor his original vision, yet expand upon the world and characters with a diverse, award-winning cast. Science fiction is the perfect genre to examine issues of race, class, gender and natural resources with thought-provoking and exciting storytelling. Snowpiercer will explore those relevant issues while embarking on a wild, action-filled ride.
Netflix has given a ten episode order for the supernatural drama Chambers which will have Akela Cooper (Marvel’s Luke Cage) as showrunner. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the project:
Chambers centers on a young heart attack survivor becomes consumed by the mystery surrounding the heart that saved her life. However, the closer she gets to uncovering the truth about her donor’s sudden death, the more she starts taking on the characteristics of the deceased — some of which are troublingly sinister.
Apple continues to push forward with television development and has placed a direct to series order for the science fiction project See from Steven Knight and Francis Lawrence (Hunger Games). Not much information is available about the show beyond the Hollywood Reporter comment that it “is described as a world-building drama set in the future”.
Hulu has ordered a yet untitled monthly horror anthology series that will stream one episode per month over a year’s time. The first episode is set to debut in October 2018.
ABC president Channing Dungey has confirmed that there are currently no new Marvel projects in the work for the upcoming season: “We developed a couple things this season that we don’t think are going to end up going forward, so we’re going to look really carefully about what we do next.”
Sci Fi TV Schedule: The CW Shows Return, Black Lightning and Counterpart Have Their Premieres
Mid-Season picks of steam as most of the Fall CW genre shows return from hiatus next week. Supergirl, The Flash, Riverdale, Supernatural, and Arrow will all resume their seasons with Legends of Tomorrow holding off until February for its return (when it takes up the Monday 8 PM EST timeslot for a few weeks to wrap up). Premiering on The CW next week is new superhero entry Black Lightning which will take up the Tuesday 9 PM EST lead-out slot from The Flash. Also premiering next week is Starz’s parallel universe series Counterpart which will air on Sundays at 9 PM EST. That show previewed its pilot episode after the Outlander season finale in December, and next week will be an encore run of that episode in its official timeslot. Also next week, Freeform’s paranormal series Beyond returns for its second season on Thursday at 9 PM EST and Netflix will premiere the animated film Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters on Wednesday. And I have seen January 18th listed as the premiere date for Amazon’s new fantasy epic Britannia, but I still have not seen confirmation that it will be available in the States on that day. Stay tuned to the Sci Fi TV Listings for updates on that as well as the weekly schedule for all the current sci fi and fantasy shows.
More Sci Fi TV News
The upcoming Constantine animated series, in which Matt Ryan will return to voice the lead, will be based on the All His Engines graphic novel which provides the backstory for the character.
At the TCAs, Gillian Anderson confirmed once again that she is done with The X-Files saying “there’s lots of other stuff I want to do, and I don’t really want to be tied down to months and months of doing any particular one thing that I feel like I’ve done.”
TBS has set February 26th as the debut date for their new animated comedy Final Space. Star Wars Rebels will be returning to air its final episodes on February 24th. You can see the full Mid-Season schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows at this link.
News Roundup from This Past Week
Sci Fi TV Trailers: Altered Carbon, The Tick Mid-Season Return, Black Lightning, and More Watch
Cancellation Watch: ABC Discusses Prospects of Agents of SHIELD, Once Upon A Time, and The Inhumans, The CW Expects More Supernatural, and More Read
Sci Fi TV Trailers: Godzilla Planet of Monsters, Krypton, Britannia, and More Watch
Cancellation Watch Breaking News: Hulu Renews Runaways and Future Man Read
Sci Fi TV News: American Horror Story Heads to the Future, Gillian Anderson is Leaving American Gods, The CW Mid-Season Schedule, and More Read
