There is great news for fans of the epic ‘Shannara’ penned by Terry Brooks as well as fantasy fans who just don’t have enough television with just ‘Game of Thrones‘ to turn to. The network has greenlit a straight to series order with the first season planned to be a 10-episode run. The series will be adapted by the always talented Jon Favreau and the duo Al Gough and Miles Millar who are responsible for ‘Smallville’.
The studio was so impressed with the initial script by Gough and Millar that they decided to bypass the usual pilot process. While Favreau was initially set to direct, Jonathan Liebesman who just handled the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ is on board as Favreau has a scheduling conflict. Liebesman is only set to direct the first two episodes and will be set as an executive producer after.
Taking ‘Shannara’ to series is a big gamble for MTV, not only due to the budget required but at the same time it can also have a huge pay off for them. While ‘Game of Thrones’ fans might be worried with the series almost caught up to what George R.R. Martin has on page, the ‘Shannara’ series was initially started in 1977 with ‘The Sword of Shannara’ and has spawned a multitude of trilogies and prequels and now has a total of 25 books out with another 3 due out this year! This is a series that, if successful, could potentially be on the air for years to come.
The series actually is set to begin in the the second book of the novels that were released, ‘The Elfstones of Shannara.’
The synopsis of the book is “Ancient Evil threatens the Elves: The ancient tree created by long-lost Elven magic, is dying. When Wil Ohmsford is summoned to guard the Amberle on a perilous quest to gather a new seed for a new tree, he is faced with the Reaper, the most fearsome of all Demons. And Wil is without power to control them….”
In the books the world is our Earth only thousands of years in the future after civilization has fallen. We follow in the footsteps of the Shannara family who have an ancient magic and whose actions will reshape the future of the world that they live in.
Are you looking forward to ‘Shannara’ being adapted to the small screen? Are you worried how it will end up being made by MTV? Share your thoughts below!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
