Earlier this year we reported that FX is adapting Robert McCammon’s smash hit ‘Speaks the Nightbird’ for television. Now, the first details as to how the network will be bringing the series together has surfaced. A person familiar with the show’s development has given ScienceFiction.com an exciting insight into a few things which they have planned.
First is that while the show that FX is creating is titled ‘Speaks the Nightbird’ the plan is for each season to adapt a single book in the series. So, the first season will adapt the book by the same name in its entirety and after that, each following season will chronologically match up with the next novel. So, Season Ttwo will represent ‘The Queen of Bedlam’ which is the second book McCammon released and so on.
At this time there are seven books in the series with the rumor being that Robert has two more in the works that he plans to release in short order. The final piece of the current plan is that the network plans to adapt the seven existing novels. Ratings and how quickly McCammon pens the last two books will likely be the deciding factor as to if the final 2 installments make their way to the small screen.
The synopsis for the first book which this season will be based upon is as follows:
It’s 1699 in the coastal settlement of Fount Royal in the Carolinas when Rachel Howarth is sentenced to be hanged as a witch. She’s been accused of murder, deviltry, and blasphemous sexual congress, and the beleaguered, God-fearing colonial village wants her dead. But Matthew Corbett, young clerk to the traveling magistrate summoned to Fount Royal to weigh the accusations, soon finds himself persuaded in favor of the beguiling young widow.
Struck first by her beauty, Matthew believes Rachel to be too dignified, courageous, and intelligent for such obscene charges. The testimony against her is fanatical and unreliable. Clues to the crimes seem too convenient and contrived. A number of her accusers appear to gain by her execution. And, if Rachel is a witch, why hasn’t she used her powers to fly away from the gaol on the wings of a nightbird?
God and Satan are indeed at war. Something really is happening in the newly established settlement—of that Corbett is certain. As his investigation draws him into the darkness of a town gone mad, and deeper into its many secrets, Corbett realizes that time is running out for him, for Rachel, and for the hope that good could possibly win out over evil in Fount Royal.
The casing has yet to be announced, but behind the scenes, we know that Stephen Susco (‘The Grudge,’ ‘Texas Chainsaw 3D’) is slated to adapt the first book. Also, Mark Wolper of Wolper Organization, Kevin Matusow of The Traveling Picture Show Company, Shay Prentice, and Kevin Nicklaus are all set to produce the series.
Are you excited that FX is planning to adapt ‘Speaks the Nightbird’ into a full season? Do you feel that we’re in for something special? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
