The 'Hannibal' showrunner is developing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's awards-winning novel, while Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg pen the new CBS thriller series.
- Jul 2, 2014
AceShowbiz - Two more novels are going to get the small screen treatment. Starz is developing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", while CBS has given a series order to "Zoo" based on James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge's novel.
"Hannibal" showrunner Bryan Fuller and Michael Green ("The River", "Heroes") are on board "American Gods", which has received a script-to-series commitment from the cable channel. The two will serve as showrunners and executive producers alongside Gaiman should Starz move forward with the project.
"Neil Gaiman has created the holiest of holy toy boxes with 'American Gods' and filled it with all manner of magical thing, born of new gods and old," Fuller said in a statement. "Michael Green and I are thrilled to crack this toy box wide open and unleash the fantastical titans of heaven and Earth and Neil's vividly prolific imagination."
"American Gods", which won the Hugo and Nebula Award, is an urban fantasy novel about a looming war between the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots and the upstart pantheon of gods who stand for society's fixation with money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. The story's main character, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods.
"Zoo", meanwhile, has received a straight-to-series order for 13 episodes from CBS. The drama is projected for summer 2015 premiere and its script has been written by Jeff Pinkner ("Fringe"), Josh Appelbaum ("Life on Mars", "Star-Crossed"), Andre Nemec ("Star-Crossed") and Scott Rosenberg ("Life on Mars"), who will also team up as the executive producers along with James Mangold ("Walk the Line"), Cathy Konrad ("Girl, Interrupted"), Patterson, Bill Robinson, Leopoldo Gout and Steve Bowen.
"Zoo", released in 2012 and a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, is a sci-fi, thriller novel about a series of violent animal attacks against humans across the planet. At the center of the story is Jackson Oz, a young biologist who tries to unlock the pandemic's mystery.
