Stephen King's 'Eyes of the Dragon' in development at Syfy -- EXCLUSIVE
Stephen King’s fantasy novel Eyes of the Dragon could at last become a movie or miniseries.
The 1987 bestseller is being developed by Syfy as a longform project, along with a scripted drama series based on the comic Grey Legion and two high-concept movie projects. The network is set to announce all the titles later today at its upfront presentation in New York City.
Michael Taylor (Battlestar Galactica) and Jeff Vintar (I, Robot) will pen the Dragon script, with Taylor and Bill Haber as executive producers.
Dragon is a rarity among King’s early works: A stand-alone novel that hasn’t been previously adapted into a live-action feature. In fact, among King’s pre-1990 books that were first published under his own name, only his fantasy titles (Eyes of the Dragon, The Talisman and the Dark Tower books) haven’t yet been adapted, though all have been in development at one point or another. And given HBO’s success with its fantasy hit Game of Thrones, the timing for Dragon couldn’t be better.
Dragon takes place in fictional realm of Delain and follows a teenage prince who is falsely accused of murdering his father, the king. Imprisoned in a high tower, the prince must figure out a way to escape, clear his name, and confront the devious and powerful wizard who is responsible for his father’s death.
Though Dragon was aimed at younger readers than most of the author’s books, the story also has plenty of characteristically dark touches. The tale also has some overlapping mythology with King’s Dark Tower novels, including sharing a villain (Flagg) who was also in one of King’s most beloved works, The Stand.
In addition, Syfy is developing a drama series called Seeing Things.
Based on the comic Grey Legion from Platinum Studios, Seeing Things is about a cop who meets a violent demise but returns as a ghost to close his last case. The only person who can help him is a socially awkward man who is realizing for the first time that his hallucinations may not be all in his head. David Slack (Person of Interest, Lie To Me) and Gabrielle Stanton (Haven, The Vampire Diaries) will write. Slack, Robert Cort and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg will executive produce the project from Fox Television Studios.
Another movie/mini project in the works at Syfy is Darkfall, from Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (Kung Fu Panda, Sleeper Cell). Logline: “When, without warning, modern forms of power and technology become a thing of the past, Los Angeles, and the world at large, becomes a place where magic rules and life as we know it is turned upside down.†Jim Henson Company and Universal Cable Productions will produce.
Syfy is also developing a movie called One Mile Straight Down. Logline: “When a powerful earthquake hits California and opens up a chasm bigger than the Grand Canyon, it reveals an enormous hidden ocean lying deep beneath the earth’s crust. Billionaire adventurer James Exeter works with the government to take an advanced nuclear submarine down to explore it and discovers more than he ever could have imagined.†Skip Woods (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Naren Shankar (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Deran Sarafian (CSI: NY) will write and executive produce this one from Universal Cable Productions.
