The SyFy Channel Greenlights THE MAGICIANS TV Series
The SyFy Channel announced earlier this week that they will be developing a new TV series called The Magicians, which is based on a book trilogy by Lev Grossman. The network has greenlit 12 episodes, and it will star Jason Ralph (A Most Violent Year, Aquarius) as Quentin Coldwater, who is a brilliant grad student that enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, which is a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic.
The story has been described as an upperclass more mature type of Harry Potter. The pilot episode of the series was directed by I Origins and Another Earth director Mike Cahill. Here’s a synopsis of the book:
Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn’t real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn’t bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin’s yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they’d imagined.
Sounds like it will make for a great series! Grossman had this to say about the project in a statement:
“Ever since ‘The Magicians’ was published I’ve wanted to see this story on screen. The people, the school, the other worlds, the magic. I’m so thrilled that it’s finally happening, and I’m beyond thrilled that we found the right people to do it. Get ready; you’ve never seen anything like this.”
They sure did get some talented individuals to bring the story to life, so it seems like there’s a chance it will be a decent series that is to the authors liking. The series also stars Stella Maeve (Chicago P.D.), Hale Appleman (Teeth), Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) and Summer Bishil (Towelhead, Lucky 7).
There’s no word on how much of the story the twelve episodes will cover, but the books that it’s based on are called The Magicians, The Magician King and the final book in the series is The Magician’s Land. I just assume the first season will span the first book, and if it’s successful we’ll see a couple more seasons based on the other books.
Have you read the book series? Does it sound like it will be a series you’d find worth watching?