George R.R. Martin New TV Show: SyFy Snags 'Game of Thrones' Creator's Space Thriller 'Nightflyers'
Following the success of "Game of Thrones," creator George R.R. Martin has a new TV show in the works. Cable network Syfy has ordered a pilot for the space thriller "Nightflyers," which is based on a novel Martin published in 1987.
"Nightflyers" will tackle the destruction of the Earth and will involve eight chief characters as scientists who are going to try and contact alien life forms. The Nightflyer is a ship that will take the scientists around the solar system with its crew and its captain.
On board the ship, however, violent events begin to unfold. The scientists and the crew thus begin to question each other's' purpose and motives, which will matter to their survival.
Universal Cable Productions has tasked Jeff Buhler to adapt Martin's novel for the small screen. "The script that Jeff delivered encapsulates this classic sci-fi horror story and adapts it to a platform where we can truly explore the depths of madness," Bill McGoldrick of NBCUniversal said in a press release. Casting for the show has not yet been announced.
Martin confirmed on his Live Journal that SyFy liked the script Buhler wrote. But the author won't actually have any hand in the show's development. "Since I have an overall deal that makes me exclusive to HBO, I can't provide any writing or producing series to 'Nightflyers' should it go to series," Martin wrote.
"Nightflyers" was previously adapted as a movie in 1987. Check out a clip from the film in the video below.
This isn't the only TV show in the works for Martin as Universal Cable Productions also bought the rights to "Wild Cards," a book series which he published 10 years before releasing the first "Game of Thrones" book "A Song of Fire and Ice." "Wild Cards" is about an alien virus and will delve into people with special abilities. Its emergence comes as at a time when superheroes is a popular niche in both the TV and the movie world.
Martin is also in the middle of developing new shows on HBO. The network ordered four spin-off scripts to "Game of Thrones" since the series will end in 2018.