Syfy has a ton of new shows coming to the small screen from ‘Killjoys‘ to ‘Z Nation‘ to ‘Olympus‘ just to name a few, and now they’ve found a director to create the pilot for their new project ‘The Magicians’. Mike Cahill (‘Another Earth’,’I Origins‘) has been tapped by the network to take on what they hope will be an ongoing show that is based off of Lev Grossman’s best-selling book series about two 20 year olds who find out that not only is magic real but is a threat to our world. It is often been described as Harry Potter for adults.
Cahill’s previous two works have both received the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at Sundance which is given to movies with a focus on either science or technology.
The series currently has John McNamara (‘Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,’ ‘Jericho‘) and Sera Gamble (‘Supernatural‘) working together on the script with Michael London (‘Milk,’ ‘The Illusionist’) producing. While Cahill is set to direct the pilot there is no word as to if he would be continuing the series after as either director or showrunner.
According to Bill McGoldrick, EVP of Original Content at Syfy:
“We were impressed with Mike’s feature work and his passion for this material. e are very excited that he will be the one bringing The Magicians to life.”
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time that ‘The Magicians’ almost made it to the small screen. Back in 2011 it was announced that Fox was looking into having a script made for the show before eventually passing on it.
If you’re not familiar with the book, here’s a synopsis from Grossman’s site:
Novel Synopsis:
Quentin Coldwater is brilliant and miserable. He’s a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he’s still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless.
Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he thought it would.
Then after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real
Are you a fan of ‘The Magicians’? Do you think it will translate well to the small screen? Share your thoughts below!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
