Del Toro's The Strain May Come to TV After All

Fox may have dropped the ball on bringing Guillermo del Toro's The Strain to life as a television series, but plans are afoot to bring the gonzo vampire tale to the small screen, with a showrunner intimately familiar with bloodsuckers.

The Strain began life as a television pitch, but when Guillermo del Toro delivered his idea for a realistic story of vampire pandemic, complete with long, complex character arcs and anal parasites, Fox execs wanted a show that was more Buffy than an undead version of The Wire. When they asked him to turn his idea into a comedy, del Toro teamed up with author Chuck Hogan to rework The Strain as a trilogy of novels.

But now, a The Strain television series is back on the table. Variety reports that Grady Twins Productions, a production company started by Marti Noxon and Dawn Parouse Olmstead, is working with del Toro and Hogan to develop a three season series, which they plan to shop early next year.

It's perhaps ironic, given that Noxon was a writer and executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was the sort of vampire dramedy Fox likely had in mind, not to mention a show we ourselves have accused of defanging the vampire genre. But Noxon, whose writing and production credits include the slow-burning Mad Men, is certainly no stranger to smart writing and gradually developing character arcs, and can hopefully deliver the over-the-top mania and horror del Toro's work demands.

[Variety]

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