Shannara - Ordered Straight to Series

MTV is moving forward with what it hopes will be its own Game of Thrones.
The younger-skewing cable network has picked up its adaptation of Terry Brooks' Shannara straight to series with a 10-episode order, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The Viacom-owned cable network is teaming with Jon Favreau and Smallville duo Al Gough and Miles Millar to adapt Brooks' international best-selling fantasy novels Shannara. From Sonar Entertainment, the deal—first announced in December—had a straight-to-series commitment attached. Executives were pleased with the script from Gough and Millar, and Shannara bypassed the traditional pilot stage. Casting has not yet begun. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Jonathan Liebesman will direct, taking over for Favreau, who had a scheduling conflict. Liebesman will direct the first two episodes and also be credited as an exec producer. Gough and Millar will write and exec produce; Brooks, Dan Farah and Favreau will also exec produce.

The Shannara series first started in 1977 with The Sword of Shannara and encompasses multiple trilogies and a prequel, totaling 25 books, with author Brooks most recently publishing Witch Wraith last July. Another three books are due to be published in 2014. Shannara takes place thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization. The story centers on the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world.

Producers—including Brooks, Favreau, Gough, Millar and Farah—plan to base the first season on The Elfstones of Shannara. The second title in the series, published in 1982, spent 16 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and is credited with cementing the series in the fantasy world. The series has more than 26 million copies in print in the U.S. alone, according to Random House imprint Del Rey, which has published the series since the start.

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Full Article @ Hollywood Reporter