Guillermo del Toro always has so many projects on the go at the same time that sometimes is darn hard to keep up with all his projects. The guy is a prolific writer with a wild imagination that must be in constant overdrive; there is no doubt about that. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that some of these projects fade away into the background, but if you are an avid fan of Guillermo, you will know that he can have projects lie dormant for a couple of years – however, he is by no means given up on them. That has been the case with his pet project A Killing On Carnival Row, which he has been sitting on for numerous years now, and it looks like the long-gestating film has found new lease of life as a TV show.
THR has reported that the planned fantasy movie will be adapted into a series for Amazon, with a title change, which has simple been abbreviated as Carnival Row. The original project was co-written with Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim), and Rene Echevarria, and is described as:
“…[being] set in a noir, Victorian-tinged city where humans, fairies and other creatures co-exist (oh, …we do like the sound of “other creatures”). But wait, there’s more! The original script was based on a detective investigating a serial killer whom was preying on mystical creatures, only to find he has become the prime suspect in the murders.”
The film was originally set for a 2005 release date with a script penned by Beacham with del Toro attached to direct the feature-length fantasy/horror/mystery. After del Toro dropped out of directing the film, Neil Jordan and Tarsem Singh also backed out of the project.
Now that Carnival Row is being adapted for TV, del Toro will be directing the pilot and he will serve as executive producer also (probably in a similar vein to his involvement with the FX thriller The Strain). Legendary (Pacific Rim), secured the script for del Toro and will produce alongside Amazon.
It’s worth noting that this news comes off the back of Amazon’s decision not to order Chris Carters The After for a full series, and considering the current array of critically acclaimed shows such as Transparent and Mozart In The Jungle, this marks the first time they’ve tapped into the horror/fantasy genre.
The pilot will film in spring once del Toro has finished post-production on Crimson Peak and before he jumps back into his Jaeger suit to helm Pacific Rim 2.
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