Guillermo del Torois teaming up with hisPacific RimscreenwriterTravis Beachamfor a new Amazon Studios TV series entitledA Killing on Carnival Row.Travis Beachamoriginally wrote the spec script as a feature, which was picked up by New Line Cinema back in 2005, withGuillermo del Toroattached to direct. The filmmaker eventually moved on to other projects, withNeil Jordanset to direct at one point before the project dissolved when New Line fully merged with Warner Bros.Tarsem Singhbecame attached back in 2011, but the project could not find a studio home. After developing the project as a feature for several years, Legendary’sThomas TullapproachedGuillermo del Toroabout turning it into a TV series, after the filmmaker’s success with FX’sThe Strain.
The story is set in a Victorian world where humans and other creatures such as fairies co-exist together. The plot centers on a detective investigating a serial killer targeting these creatures, when he discovers that he himself has become the main suspect.Guillermo del Torowill co-write the pilot script withTravis Beachamand René Echevarria, with all three writers set to executive produce alongside Gary Ungar (The Strain).Guillermo del Torois also set to direct the pilot episode, with production set to begin this spring before he makesPacific Rim 2. Here’s whatGuillermo del Torohad to say about turning this feature into an Amazon Studios TV series.
“We tried to do it for so long as a film that the rights reverted back to Travis as a basic story. And I’ve always talked about it to anyone that would listen. We always had too many ideas to fit into the feature. We can now really focus on the world and the politics of what it is to be a magical being in Victorian steampunk atmosphere where you are seen as a lesser being.”
Guillermo del Torois currently in production onSeason 2ofThe Strain, and in post-production on his latest feature, Legendary’sCrimson Peak, which hits theaters on October 16. The filmmaker has a number of other projects in various stages of development, includingDark Universe,At the Mountains of MadnessandHaunted Mansion 3D.
