FX is jumping into the vampire genre with "The Strain." And these vampires don't shine in the daylight.
Deadline is reporting that Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's "The Strain" novel trilogy has received a pilot order from FX after several cable networks offered "major commitments." Del Toro and Hogan will executive produce the project and co-write the pilot, with del Toro slated to direct the pilot episode as well.
Former "Lost" co-showrunner, Carlton Cuse will also executive produce "The Strain" and serve as the showrunner on this series as well. The Deadline report also states that "The Strain" is designed to run for about three to five seasons, with del Toro's stated intention is to "direct as many episodes as I can through the life of the series.”
“One of the reasons I wanted to be involved in cable is I love the long character arcs in these shows, and how they are slightly malleable and the way that secondary characters in the books can become more important in series,” said del Toro. “Creatively it is the richest field to mine a long arc of character, and I follow about 13 of these series… Not only that, but I cast much of my movie, Pacific Rim, from it.”
The first season would likely adapt the first novel in "The Strain" series, which began with the mysterious landing of a Boeing 777 which had no survivors on board and indications that something unnatural had also been on the plane. Soon a deadly swarm of vampires begins decimating humanity, with only CDC Agent Eph Goodweather, Holocaust survivor Professor Abraham Setrakia and a few others left to stand in the way of their deadly agenda. Unlike most vampires in fiction, the creatures in "The Strain" are horribly mutated parasites with no romantic overtones and very little humanity left in their physical appearance.
According to the report, del Toro and Hogan will write the pilot script at the end of the year and production of "The Strain" pilot will begin in September 2013; which may mean that the potential series won't be coming to FX before 2014.
