Showtime Orders Fantasy Series Gormenghast
Neil Gaiman has lined up one of his passion projects at Showtime, but it’s not based on any of his novels. Instead, Gaiman and Akiva Goldsman have landed a script-to-series order based on Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast fantasy trilogy.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the story, and notes that showrunner Toby Whithouse (Being Human) is already opening up a writers room for the series. Peake’s first novel in the series, Titus Groan, was originally published in 1946. Gormenghast and Titus Alone followed in 1950 and 1959, respectively. Peake was unable to finish a fourth installment, Titus Awakes, before passing away in 1968. Peake’s widow, Maeve Gilmore, finished Titus Awakes, and it was published in 2009.
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Gormenghast‘s titular castle is a city-sized structure that is surrounded by a vast wasteland on all sides. Titus Groan is the main character of the series, and the young heir to Gormenghast. However, Titus has his own ideas about his destiny. And his desire to leave Gormenghast and explore the outside world is the primary story of the trilogy.
THR also notes that Gormenghast isn’t the only fantasy series in development at Showtime. Lin-Manuel Miranda is producing a Kingkiller Chronicle series based upon Patrick Rothfuss’ novels. Additionally, Showtime is producing the live-action Halo series. Time will tell if any of these series will be Showtime’s answer to Game of Thrones.
Are you excited to see Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast fantasy series Showtime? Who would you cast as Titus? Share your picks in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Complete Gormenghast Trilogy
