Guillermo del Toro on the set of Blade II.
© New Line
Guillermo del Toro, who previously directed the vampire movies Cronos and Blade II, is returning to the sub-genre with a TV series based on the Strain trilogy of books he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan. According to Variety, FX has ordered a pilot episode that del Toro will co-write and direct, "with the understanding that the project would likely be fast-tracked to a series order." Carlton Cuse, known primarily for his work as writer and producer on Lost, will serve as show runner.
The books -- The Strain (2009), The Fall (2010) and The Night Eternal (2011) -- revolve around an infectious vampire virus that lands in New York via airplane and spreads from there. I haven't read them, but my understanding is that the vampires are unorthodox and animalistic -- not unlike those in Blade II -- with a snake-like jaw and a long "stinger" that extends from their mouth. Reportedly, the trilogy was originally intended to be a TV show, but del Toro didn't like the direction the (unnamed) network wanted to take the story, so he opted to turn it into the trilogy of novels.
Unfortunately, you'll have to be patient to see the final product on the small screen. Filming on the pilot isn't planned until the fall of 2013, so the show probably won't air until 2014.
Source: Variety
Comments
The series of books clearly reads like novelizations of screenplays. One can almost see who the parts were written for.
It will be interesting to see how they cast the show, basically since the series has such a defined arc, and the lead character of Ephraim is a really unlikeable guy.
The vampires are very creepy, and a complete 180 from the effeminate sparkly chested non blood drinkers in another series *coughtwilightcough* I will not mention here.
The problem that this series faces, is that it is very bleak, and decidedly not a feel good humans beat the monsters story. It’s kinda hard to sell something like that.