The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that George R.R. Martin has sold screen rights to his long-running Wild Cards series to Syfy Films (a joint venture between the Syfy Channel and Universal). This is Syfy Films’ first acquisition. Martin’s Hollywood star is currently shining brightly, due to the success of the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on his massive fantasy epic series.
Martin told THR the series has been optioned before, but this is the biggest step taken so far to actually bring it to the big screen.
Melinda Snodgrass, who is one of the co-creators and co-writers of the series, has already been given the go-ahead to write the screenplay for the project. She and Martin will both executive produce the film.
Martin founded the shared-universe Wild Card series in 1987. The series is set on an alternate post-World War II Earth. In this universe, in 1946, an alien virus is unleashed in New York City. The virus rewrites human DNA, and kills 90% of the people. However, 9% mutate into deformed creatures (known as “Jokers”) and the remaining 1% gain superpowers (known as “Aces”). There is also a class known as “Deuces”—Aces who have acquired useless or ridiculous powers. The airborne virus eventually spreads all over the world.
Describing the series, Martin said “One of the things we have going is the sense of history. The comics in the mainstream are doing retcons [retroactive continuity] all the time. [Heroes] get married, then one day, the publisher changes his mind, and then they’re no longer married. To my mind, it’s very frustrating. [Our stories] are in real time. It’s a world that is changing in parallel to our own.” Indeed, during the life of the series, main characters have grown, changed their lives, and died (permanently), and others have been introduced.
Syfy Films’ Senior Vice President of Production Gregory Noveck said “This is, beyond Marvel and DC, really the only universe where you have fully realized, fully integrated characters that have been built and developed over the course of 25 years. The trick for us is to find what’s the best movie.”