Author Dan Simmons' best-selling thriller is coming to life in 2017 because AMC green-lit the production for the adaptation of the novel. The basic cable network confirms that it ordered 10 hour-long episodes of "The Terror."
Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott is set to executive produce the anthology drama along with David W. Zucker of Scott Free, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert of Emjag Productions and Guymon Casady of Entertainment 360.
David Kajganich penned the adaptation and will serve as showrunner along with Soo Hugh who is known for her work in "The Whispers" and "The Killing."
The attached people on the project are impressive enough for us to safely assume that "The Terror" will be something worth watching when it is finally released.
"Originality is still something that gets our attention every day, and the very unique mixing of historical non-fiction with a gripping and imaginative science fiction overlay in Dan's novel is something that we hadn't seen before," AMC President of Original Programming and Development Joel Stillerman said.
"The Terror" is not the first of Simmons' works to be adapted for television. In June 2015, the Syfy channel announced its intention to adapt Simmons' novel "Hyperion" into a miniseries.
"The Terror" is based on Simmons' novel of the same title, which is a fictionalized retelling of the British Royal Navy expedition of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in the Northern Passage. In the novel, Captain Sir John Franklin and his crew are stuck in the Arctic and must deal with the terror of starvation and cannibalism, as well as an unknown predator that terrorizes the remaining crew as they struggle to survive the harsh landscape.
The adaptation has been in the works at AMC since 2013, so it is really good news that the project is finally moving forward and with talented people in the science fiction genre to boot.
If you want to know more about "The Terror," you can read a preview of the first chapter for free in Dan Simmons' website. If you need more motivation, we will leave you with the first line:
"Captain Crozier comes up on deck to find his ship under attack by celestial ghosts."
