2014 is proving to be a good year to be an SFF writer. It seems almost every couple of weeks Fantasy-Faction is reporting that another author’s work has been optioned by Hollywood or been sniffed around by a television studio.
Already we’ve had confirmation that Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Terry Brook’s Shannara will be coming to our screens in the not-too-distant future, and today it has been confirmed that John Scalzi’s comedic sci-fi novel, Redshirts, is heading to a television screen near you too!
Deadline reports that FX will team with veteran feature producer Jon Shestack (Dan In Real Life) and producer-director Ken Kwapis (Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants) and his partner Alexandra Beattie to develop a limited series based on the book, which won the 2013 Hugo Award. Search is underway for writers to pen the adaption, with Kwapis set to direct the opening episode.
Set in the 25th century, Redshirts follows the adventures of five new recruits on the Starship Intrepid who come to realize that the ship’s crewmembers are dying at an alarming rate. Their investigation leads to the mind-bending discovery that a science fiction television show, produced in the early 21st century, has somehow “intruded” upon their reality and “warped” it. In other words, the lives of the crew are following the course of a television narrative over which they have no control.
“Redshirts is a madcap, hyper-meta tale,” Shestack said. Added Kwapis, “If Jorge Luis Borges had been a staff writer on the original Star Trek, he would no doubt have concocted a story like Redshirts.”
Fantasy-Faction’s Forum Members are huge fans of the book, one wrote that it was ‘one of the funniest, yet most touching books I’ve ever read’. It remains to see whether FX, who typically don’t throw massive budgets at things, will do the series justice. Here’s hoping!
UPDATE!
Scalzi has done a blog post on his site answering a number of questions that fans had upon hearing the news. Scalzi explains that ‘There’s been interest in Redshirts pretty much from the moment it dropped’ and that over the years he’d ‘spent a lot of time fielding offers’. Apparently, things got serious after the book won the Hugo award, which John says works as ‘a useful data point for people who argue whether or not winning a Hugo means anything outside the SF/F nerd tribe; in this case, yes, it really did.’
Of course, most questions revolved around how the author felt about someone taking his book for adaption. He explains: ‘The book is done and won’t change, for better or worse. The TV series will be an adaptation of the book, and will follow the book to a greater or lesser extent depending on the needs of the series. You should right now get used to the idea that the series will not exactly mirror the book. Also, keep in your mind that changes that might happen won’t automatically suck. TV is a different medium than novels; each have advantages and disadvantages’
Of the team working on the series, John says ‘I feel very good about them. I’ve known Jon Shestack for some time; he’s been a fan of my work for years, which is a positive thing when it comes to adapting a book for the screen’. Scalzi adds that he will be an executive producer and consultant for the series, meaning that he will be ‘ and that he will be ‘involved to a fair degree’.
As for when the series will be released: ‘Dunno. We have a lot to do, including finding writers, producing a script FX likes, and so on. Having a deal in place doesn’t mean you’re on screen in a flash. I’d like to think it will take the time it takes to get it right.’
Geoff Matthews
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
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