George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards books are heading to TV!
Did you just get déjà vu? That might be because Universal Cable Productions announced this project back in 2016. Sadly, nothing really got off the ground, so now UCP has hooked up with Hulu to get things moving.
Two shows are in the works at the streaming service based on Martin’s 27-book series, turning this into a made-to-order television universe. Both of these proposed series will be written and executive produced by Andrew Miller, creator of the short-lived dark magic show, The Secret Circle. That series was itself based on a string of books by L.J. Smith, and eventually cancelled after a steep ratings decline and an expensive special effects budget combined to make a second season difficult – Miller shouldn’t have those kinds of cash flow problems over at Hulu.
Here’s a synopsis for the two planned Wild Cards series, via Deadline:
Set in the present, the series explores the aftermath of an alien virus, released over Manhattan in 1946 that killed 90% of those it infected. In the survivors, DNA was altered, creating grotesque physical deformities, except for a tiny percentage who develop super human powers instead. Called the Wild Card virus, it has passed down through generations, and can go undetected until suddenly activated by a traumatic event — at which point the carrier is either killed, mutated or granted god-like powers. Effects that are largely a manifestation of the victim’s emotional state, making them vulnerable to reverence or ridicule on a deeply personal level. Now, after decades of sociological turmoil, having been worshipped, oppressed, exploited and ignored… Victims of the virus want to define their own future.
Wild Cards will be a new Martin sandbox for Hulu to play in, although the author will not be involved behind the scenes as his current deal locks him to HBO and its various Game Of Thrones spin-off projects.
The Wild Cards books have been flying off shelves since 1986, so there’s plenty of material for these two series. Of course, if they do well, we may see more spin-offs evolve in the future, too.
More as we get it.