Category Archives: TV Adaptations

Seth Rogen Begins Work on “Preacher” Adaptation

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“Preacher” is finally moving into production at AMC. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have begun to map out what the pilot episode of the series adaptation will look like.

Recently, Rogen tweeted an image referencing what they have planned for the pilot episode. You can see the tweet below.

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The series is based on the comic series by Garth Ennis and Steven Dillon. Fans were a bit worried about whether the series would stay true to the comic book series when AMC released an official synopsis of the show version as you can see below:

Preacher follows Reverend Jesse Custer, a tough Texas preacher who has lost his faith, has learned that God has left Heaven and abandoned His responsibilities. He finds himself the only person capable of tracking God down, demanding answers, and making Him answer for His dereliction of duty. Accompanying Jesse on his journey is his former girlfriend and a friendly vampire who seems to prefer a pint in the pub to the blood of the innocent. On his tail is one of the most iconic bad guys in print – an immortal, unstoppable killing machine named the Saint of Killers – a western lone gunman archetype whose sole purpose is to hunt and kill Jesse.

But, as you can see from the board in Rogen’s pic, the pilot episode is starting out with Genesis right there at the beginning.

Game of Thrones: Season 5 To Film Partially in Spain

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“Game of Thrones” is still about a year away from premiering its fifth season but HBO has announced that it will add Spain as one the filming locations for the next season. Part of the season will shoot in the Province of Sevilla according to the announcement.

HBO didn’t reveal which part of Westeros that Spain will be representing but is rumored that it will be much awaited country of Dorne. D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, the “Game of Thrones” show runners and executive producers have already confirmed we will be seeing Dorne in season five. Also considering in the novels, Dorne is described as rocky, mountainous, arid, and dry. The Province of Sevilla lays in the Andalusia region which relatively matches that description. 

Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” begins filming in Belfast later this month.

CBS Adapting James Patterson’s “Zoo” in 2015

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CBS has officially ordered 13 episodes of a series adaptation of “Zoo.” The television show will be based on the bestselling novel of the same name by James Patterson. “Zoo” was published in 2012 and has sold more than four million copies worldwide.

“Zoo” is a global thriller about a wave of violent animal attacks against humans across the planet. As the assaults become more cunning, coordinated and ferocious, a young renegade biologist is thrust into the race to unlock the pandemic’s mystery before there’s no place left for people to hide.

Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg wrote the script and are executive producers with James Mangold, Cathy Konrad, James Patterson, Bill Robinson, Leopoldo Gout and Steve Bowen.

Nina Tassler, Chairman, CBS Entertainment said,

“‘Zoo’ further demonstrates our commitment to high-quality, year-round programming and to high-concept series that play to summer audiences in the U.S. as well as on a global scale. With this #1 bestseller coming to television, we’re excited to give our viewers a thrill ride with another blockbuster summer event.”

“Zoo” is expected to premiere in summer of 2015.

Walking Dead Marathon this Weekend to Include 5 Season Sneak Peek

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This 4th of July weekend, AMC is airing a marathon of “The Walking Dead.” All four seasons of the series will air back to back beginning Friday, July 4 at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT. BUT, they will also give us a special first look at the highly-anticipated fifth season!

The 4th of July marathon weekend will finish with a “Talking Dead Season 5 Preview Special,” hosted by Chris Hardwick, on Sunday, July 6 at 9:00pm ET/PT featuring “The Walking Dead” showrunner and executive producer Scott M. Gimple and actress Aisha Tyler.

“The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The series tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse and follows a group of survivors, led by sheriff Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. “The Walking Dead” stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Emily Kinney, Danai Gurira, Chad Coleman and Sonequa Martin-Green. The series is executive produced by Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, David Alpert and Tom Luse.

 

The fifth season of “The Walking Dead” premieres this October and it will be interesting to see how the gang gets themselves out of the shipping container and Terminus. 

FX Changing Controversial “The Strain” Billboards After Negative Reaction

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As you can see above, the billboard artwork for the upcoming television series, “The Strain” on FX, is a bit disturbing. Even more so when you realize its several feet hire on the interstate. So, FX has decided to listen to the public with their ridiculous demands and take it down.

“We are in the process of replacing the key art for The Strain on outdoor media in several locations,” a FX spokesman said in a prepared statement.

FX has not announced how they are planning to replace the already paid for ad space.

Among those who have been complaining is Kate Aurthur, a writer for BuzzFeed, says,

“As a parent of small children — not to mention an adult human being who hates worms coming out of eyes — I’m surprised to see this image on public streets. I live in fear of my 4-year-old noticing it (he would cry, literally) and have taken to driving out of my way to avoid places where I know the billboard is…And I am not alone!”

Screenwriter Kristin Smith tweeted,

“Seriously, The Strain? I have to look at your disgusting eyeball billboard when I drive? Are you trying to make me crash and die?”

C’mon people. Stop being ridiculous.

“The Strain” is based on the novel series by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It premiere on FX on July 13.

The Walking Dead: Season Four Hits DVD and Blu-ray August 26

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“The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season” will release on DVD and Blu-ray on August 26. The news was announced by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The release will contain five discs while the Blu-ray set will include Digital HD with Ultraviolet versions with episodes presented in pristine 1080p high-definition and lossless Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio.

The DVD and Blu-ray releases will include several hours of bonus features such as never-before-seen production footage, deleted scenes and audio commentaries, with ultra-exclusive content only available on the Blu-ray release, including additional audio commentaries and several “extended” episodes, debuting for the first time.

The fourth season’s cast starred Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, David Morrissey, Melissa McBride, Chad L. Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green and Emily Kinney. New characters introduced this season include Sgt. Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), Bob Stookey (Lawrence Gillard, Jr.), Rosita Espinoza (Christian Serratos) and Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermott).

Season Four will also see a limited edition “Tree Walker” package release which you can above!

SRP is $79.99 for the Blu-ray + Digital HD with Ultraviolet, $69.98 for the DVD and $129.99 for the Blu-ray limited edition.

Season four saw Rick and his fellow survivors struggle to maintain their idealistic lifestyle in the prison in the face of threats, including the proliferation of walkers near the prison gates, the outbreak of a contagious and deadly flu-like infection within the prison population, and the spectre of The Governor, whose whereabouts and status are unknown. The second half of the season mainly focuses on the individual groups that escaped from the prison after its downfall, and their efforts to survive as they follow a line of railroad tracks to a supposed safe zone named Terminus

Rosario Dawson to Star in Netflix’s “Daredevil”

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Netflix continues to add big names to its upcoming series, “Daredevil.” This week it was announced that Rosario Dawson has joined the cast in a lead role of the comic book series adaptation. Marvel revealed the news today on its website.

According to Marvel’s announcement, Dawson will play a dedicated young woman whose quest to heal the wounds of Hell’s Kitchen brings blind attorney Matt Murdock unexpectedly crashing into her life, while her own journey forever alters the course of his battle against the injustices of this broken city.

Dawson is most known for her roles in Sin City and its recent sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. She also starred in the musical film adaptation of Rent. 

The titular role of Dardevil, aka Matt Murdock, will be played by Boardwalk Empire’s Charlie Cox. It was announced last week that Vincent D’Onofrio will play villain known as “The Kingpin.”

Steven S. DeKnight will serve as series showrunner.

“Daredevil” will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2015 simultaneously like previous Netflix Original Series. It will consist of 13 episodes. The series will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Daredevil” is the first of five Marvel projects that were ordered for Netflix. It is to be followed by “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage,” before leading into a “Defenders” miniseries.

Vincent D’Onofrio Boards Netflix’s “Daredevil”

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The upcoming Netflix comic adaptation “Daredevil” has added a new cast member by way of Vincent D’Onofrio. Reportedly he will play the foe for the titular character Matt Murdock.

The plot follows lawyer-by-day Murdock uses his heightened senses from being blinded as a young boy to fight crime at night on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil. 

D’Onofrio will play Wilson Fisk, an antagonist also known as “The Kingpin.” The character was described in the press release as “a powerful businessman whose interests in the future of Hell’s Kitchen will bring him into conflict with Murdock.” 

“The Kingpin” was famously played by Michael Clarke Duncan in the 2003 film adaptation starring Ben Affleck.

D’Onofrio will star opposite the “Boardwalk Empire” alum (and my secret boyfriend) Charlie Cox as Murdock. So far no other cast members have been announced.

Steve S. DeKnight will serve as showrunner.

“Daredevil” will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2015 simultaneously like previous Netflix Original Series. It will consist of 13 episodes. The series will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Daredevil” is the first of five Marvel projects that were ordered for Netflix. It is to be followed by “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage,” before leading into a “Defenders” miniseries.

“True Blood” Musical Being Developed

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The HBO series “True Blood” is entering its final season but that doesn’t mean it is over for good. No, not a movie. A MUSICAL! The news comes from the mouth of composer Nathan Barr who has written the scores for every season the show.

“This was something that I pitched to HBO and [show creator] Alan Ball,” said composer Barr.

According to Barr, the musical will focus on telepath and perpetual death and destruction magnet, Sookie Stackhouse, (portrayed by Anna Paquin in the HBO series). However, Barr is aware that after seven seasons of wild twists and turns it will be difficult to trim the story down to one stage production.

“I think we’re really going to try to return to the roots of the show,” Barr commented.

Stephen Moyer, who portrays Bill Compton in the series opposite Paquin, also revealed that helped Barr put together some samples of the True Blood musical presented to HBO and Ball.

Barr plans to present a workshop version of the musical in about a year from now. He is hopeful that it will make it its way to Broadway but that “there’s no guarantees.” He added, “But I think the direction we’re heading in is really exciting.”

GRRM Speaks Out About Game of Thrones Rape Scene

 

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Earlier this season we saw a scene in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” that differed significantly from the source material. It called into question the showrunners adaptation skills of the novels drew ire from the fans. Novel series author, George R.R. Martin even spoke out about the scene differences.

In the scene in the show, we see Jaime Lannister rape his sister Cersei next to the corpse of their incest-bred son, Joffrey. In the novel, there is not even the slightest hint of rape. Martin responded to the changed scene in his LiveJournal account saying:

As for your question… I think the “butterfly effect” that I have spoken of so often was at work here. In the novels, Jaime is not present at Joffrey’s death, and indeed, Cersei has been fearful that he is dead himself, that she has lost both the son and the father/ lover/ brother. And then suddenly Jaime is there before her. Maimed and changed, but Jaime nonetheless. Though the time and place is wildly inappropriate and Cersei is fearful of discovery, she is as hungry for him as he is for her.

The whole dynamic is different in the show, where Jaime has been back for weeks at the least, maybe longer, and he and Cersei have been in each other’s company on numerous occasions, often quarreling. The setting is the same, but neither character is in the same place as in the books, which may be why Dan & David played the sept out differently. But that’s just my surmise; we never discussed this scene, to the best of my recollection.

Also, I was writing the scene from Jaime’s POV, so the reader is inside his head, hearing his thoughts. On the TV show, the camera is necessarily external. You don’t know what anyone is thinking or feeling, just what they are saying and doing.

If the show had retained some of Cersei’s dialogue from the books, it might have left a somewhat different impression — but that dialogue was very much shaped by the circumstances of the books, delivered by a woman who is seeing her lover again for the first time after a long while apart during which she feared he was dead. I am not sure it would have worked with the new timeline.

That’s really all I can say on this issue. The scene was always intended to be disturbing… but I do regret if it has disturbed people for the wrong reasons.