The Strain [FX]

Writer/director/producer Guillermo del Toro has added another project to his ever-growing list. This time around, he’ll be adapting his own vampire trilogy, The Strain, into a series, starting with a pilot order from FX. Del Toro plans to co-write the pilot script with Chuck Hogan (Prince of Thieves), who also co-wrote the books. Del Toro will also direct and executive produce the pilot episode. Also on board as showrunner to help develop the series will be Carlton Cuse (Lost), which is fitting since The Strain is planned for a limited run of three to five seasons, much like Lost was in its early development. Hit the jump for more on The Strain.

Deadline reported on the pilot order from FX for del Toro’s The Strain. At the outset, del Toro commented that his books should have enough material to satisfy three to five seasons if certain books are broken into multiple seasons and if subplots that didn’t make it into the book are used for the TV series. The Strain is an interesting get for FX as it marks the first time the network has committed to a drama pilot off a pitch. It’s also a great win for del Toro, who originally conceived of The Strain as a TV series, but was advised to produce it in book form first. It also marks del Toro’s first greenlit series project in the U.S. As an added bonus, expect del Toro to “direct as many episodes as [he] can through the life of the series,” when he has time between feature projects.

Here’s the description from the first book in del Toro’s The Strain trilogy (via Amazon):

A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously ‘goes dark’, stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised. When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead — although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads. The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that’s the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity.

Guillermo del Toro’s THE STRAIN Comes to FX with Carlton Cuse | Collider