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George R.R. Martin's best-selling anthology 'Wild Cards' is in development at Universal Cable Productions.
The end may be in sight for HBO's Game of Thrones, but author and exec producer George R.R. Martin is making plans for another of his books to be adapted for TV.
Martin took to his Live Journal account over the weekend to reveal that NBCUniversal-owned Universal Cable Productions has acquired the rights to his anthology series Wild Cards.
"Development will begin immediately on what we hope will be the first of several interlocking series," Martin wrote.
Melinda M. Snodgrass (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Martin's assistant editor and "right-hand man" on Wild Cards — who created the franchise's Dr. Tachyon, Double Helix and Franny Black, will executive produce. Gregory Noveck (Red) will also exec produce.
Here's how Martin described Wild Cards: "The shared world of the Wild Cards diverged from our own on Sept. 15, 1946, when an alien virus was released in the skies over Manhattan, and spread across an unsuspecting Earth. Of those infected, 90 percent died horribly, drawing the black queen, 9 percent were twisted and deformed into jokers, while a lucky 1 percent became blessed with extraordinary and unpredictable powers and became aces. The world was never the same."
The first volume of the book series was published in 1986 and was a finalist for the prestigious Hugo Award; 22 volumes have been published, with the 23rd installment set to debut this month and three more in the works. The books have been published around the globe and have spawned comics, graphic novels, role-playing games and more.
"Wild Cards is a series of books, graphic novels, games ... but most of all it is a universe, as large and diverse and exciting as the comic book universes of Marvel and DC (though somewhat grittier, and considerably more realistic and more consistent), with an enormous cast of characters both major and minor," Martin said. "There are thousands of stories to be told in the world of the Wild Cards, and Gregory and Melinda and UPC hope to be able to tell many of them."
Martin also confirmed that he will have no involvement in UCP's version of Wild Cards as he remains under an overall deal with HBO and is busy prepping the forthcoming Game of Thrones installment Winds of Winter.
Wild Cards marks the latest TV project for Martin. He's also developing Captain Cosmos for HBO and an adaptation of his werewolf noir novel The Skin Trade for HBO sibling Cinemax.
TV Development Game of Thrones
