Monday Wishlist Roundup: The Rebirth of Dead Dreams Edition
I’m out of my cave! I had around 50-60 English essays to mark (I lost count), an article to write, and a thesis chapter to finish. A couple of weeks and lots of coffee later I’m back and ready to share a few things I’m excited for!
~*~Monday Wishlist~*~*
First up we’ve got a new Young Adult Fantasy series fresh off a sale. And guess what? The writer of said series is an old agent mate of mine! I’m speaking of course of Julie Eshbaugh’s IVORY AND BONE.
Pitched as a YA Clan of the Cave Bear, this fantastical debut with a unique narrative structure tells the story of two star-crossed teens whose competing clans share a dark history, and who must choose between trusting—or fighting—each other.
I’m so happy about the number of YA Fantasy series making their way to the shelves these days. This really sounds like a fun, ROMEO AND JULIET meets GAME OF THRONES (sorry I had to) kind of thing, which I’m absolutely here for. And for the record, I know nothing about Clan of the Cave Bear except that these pictures I found from the movie are giving me LIFE.
All the fur.
And of course, you might be wondering about the title of the post. Some of you may know that last year was the year of the YA Book-to-Movie Franchises. Beautiful Creatures, The Host (not YA technically but you know what I mean), Warm Bodies, etc. etc. Some did okay, but aside from The Hunger Games, most did not do particularly well. That includes the MORTAL INSTRUMENTS.
I didn’t think the movie was that great in all honesty, mostly because of the script, but I always thought the material would make for a great TV series on a network like MTV, the CW or ABC Family.
After stalling at the box office, The Mortal Instruments is coming back. As a television series.
Constantin Film, the production company that controls the rights to Cassandra Clare‘s best-selling YA fantasy franchise and which produced The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones film, is relaunching Mortal Instruments as a high-end drama series.
Constantin has hired Ed Decter, whose writer-producer credits include Helix, Unforgettable, In Plain Sight and The Client List, as the showrunner for the Mortal Instruments series. The project is currently in development, with Constantin planning to begin production next year. No broadcast partners are yet attached to the series.
Constantin had originally planned to turn Clare’s fantasy series into a feature film franchise but shelved that idea after the first Mortal Instruments film, starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower, tanked at the box office, earning just $31 million domestically. Constantin, however, insisted it had not abandoned the franchise and planned to return to Mortal Instruments.
“It actually makes sense to do (the novels) as a TV series,” Constantin film and TV head Martin Moszkowicz told THR. “There was so much from the book that we had to leave out of the Mortal Instruments film. In the series we’ll be able to go deeper and explore this world in greater detail and depth.”
The Mortal Instruments series is part of a broader strategic shift at Constantin that will see the German-based company move into English-language television series. Moszkowicz said Constantin is looking at possible television adaptations of several of its English-language movie properties, including period serial killer drama Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and the Resident Evil sci-fi horror franchise.
Constantin’s German television business has been consistently profitable over the years even as its recent English-language films, with the exception of the Resident Evil titles, have misfired. In addition to Mortal Instruments, Constantin’s big-budget disaster movie Pompeii and the 3D animated Tarzan, both fizzled at the box office.
I’m actually excited about it. I was hugely invested in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (before it got bad and I realized I couldn’t stand by and watch the show treat Bonnie like shit anymore) and I think this might be in the same vein. There are like thirty books in the series right now so they don’t have to worry about running out of material. I’m hugely, hugely anticipating this. I think it could end up being really great. Of course, THE SELECTION was optioned and even developed, but never went beyond the pilot. But I’m hoping MORTAL INSTRUMENTS actually sees its day on the small screen because it could end up being really fun to follow.
Speaking of the Selection pilot….
Aw that could have been fun but honestly the actress would have annoyed me by episode 2 🙁 They were really pretty though weren’t they? D:
Til next time…
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