Amazon has ordered a pilot of Carnival Row, a series created by genre giant Guillermo del Toro and his Pacific Rim writer, Travis Beacham.
The story is set in the future in a city called The Burgue, which is not dissimilar in appearance to London circa the 1700s. With a population made up of humans and various other creatures, the city is being stalked by a vicious serial killer.
The series comes from a feature script written over ten years ago by Beacham, entitled A Killing on Carnival Row, which New Line Cinema and Koppelson Entertainment bought in 2005 with an eye on del Toro to direct. The Cell/Immortals director Tarsem Singh was also attached to the project at one point, before it disappeared from the radar following New Line’s folding.
Carnival Row keeps the setting from Beacham’s feature script, with a pilot scripted by experienced TV writer Rene Echevarria (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Medium), who also serves as showrunner. Del Toro, Beacham and Echevarria will executive produce alongside Gary Ungar.
Meanwhile, FX’s del Toro co-created series The Strain returns for a third season in August.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
