There are few things I'm more excited about than HBO's
eventual adaptation of George R. R.
Martin's massive fantasy series, A
Game of Thrones. I say this not only because the material is both epic and
Shakespearean; I say this not only because of the substantial talent involved
both behind and in front of the camera; I say this not only because the
storytelling is first-rate....I say it because the damn books are long and it's taking me forever to
actually read them.
Easier to read, however, is Martin's werewolf novella, The Skin Trade, the rights to which,
according to Variety, have been picked up by Spoke Lane Entertainment and Mike
the Pike Productions. The novella first appeared in the short story collection Dark Visions, grouped with six short
stories from horror masterminds Stephen King and Dan Simmons. The same seven
tales have been paired together in a number of collections released under the
titles, Dark Love, The Skin Trade, and
Night Visions 5.
Variety describes the plot, saying, "Martin's story is based
on a female private investigator on the trail of a serial killer linked to an
underground werewolf clan ruling the remains of a vibrant city devastated by a
recession."
Well, at the end of the day, at least it ain't about
vampires, right? No word yet on a writer or director, but several of the
producers associated with the project are also attached to an adaptation of
Terry Brooks' Sword of Shanara series, one of the most ambitious on-going fantasy yarns prior to Martin's Game of Thrones epic. Check back with
UGO for more...
