Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and crime/thriller writer Chuck Hogan sold a vampire thriller triology to Executive Editor David Highfill at William Morrow via agent Richard Abate of the Endeavor Literary Agency (del Toro’s manager, Gary Ungar of Exile Entertainment, and his attorney, George Hayum, also participated in making the deal). The first book in the series, The Strain, “centers on the invasion of New York City by a vampiric virus,” and should debut in Summer 2009.
William Morrow (and its parent company, HarperCollins), will publish the book simultaneously in the US (William Morrow) and the UK (HarperCollins), along with a special US-Spanish language edition published by HC imprint Rayo. HC will also be selling the translation rights.
Highfill said of the deal, “I’m excited to be working with Chuck and Guillermo, whose unique and pioneering cinematic vision I have long admired. And I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help bring Guillermo’s vision to readers, in an exciting new trilogy written by one of the most imaginative and acclaimed directors of our time. It’s a dream job for any editor.”
Morrow Senior Vice President Lisa Gallagher emphasized the importance the company is placing on this deal: “This will be a major global launch for us in 2009.”
The Strain opens “with the arrival of a transatlantic flight at JFK airport, where immediately upon touchdown, all power and communication to the aircraft are lost and a mysterious sliver of black appears—in the form of a slowly opening door—on the plane’s fuselage… and so begins the invasion and escalating battle of epic proportions as the virus that has infected the survivors makes its horrifying way through the city.” del Toro says “The idea is epic in scope. It spans the centuries and ultimately needs such embroidery-like detail that a trilogy is the right way to go. In Chuck, I found a great partner in this adventure, and in William Morrow and David, we’ve found the spirit and trust we need to lay it out properly. The trilogy advances in unexpected ways and each book contains unique and surprising revelations about the history, physiology, and lore of the vampiric race, tracing its roots all the way back to its Old Testament origins.”
del Toro is the director of Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, and the two-part The Hobbit (currently in the works).
Hogan’s first thriller, The Standoff (1995), was a bestseller, and translated into fourteen langauges. He won the Hammett Award for crime writing with Prince of Thieves (2004), which Warner Brothers just acquired to make a film directed by and starring Ben Affleck.