Ah, this helps explain a recent Facebook status.

The One True b!X | July 30, 07:32 CET

Looking forward to this. Any news on Gigantic?

wiesengrund | July 30, 07:33 CET

Be interesting to see a new vampire series that bucks the current trend. I do like me a vicious monster show.

Simon | July 30, 07:48 CET

"Pan's Labyrinth" put Del Toro into the "will watch anything he's involved with" list for me so yeah, that sounds cool. The other show sounds really interesting too, good lead who couldn't be more appropriate for the part IMO and at least one good creator involved (nothing against the other woman, just haven't seen any of her stuff).

Saje | July 30, 10:20 CET

Wow, The Strain is already being adapted? The book hasn't even gone paperback yet (and its promised sequals have probably not yet been written) :). It was on my 'might pick up and read' list, though. But I think it's pretty gory, so not sure if I'd want to watch it :).

GVH | July 30, 12:17 CET

We've really got to get you over this gore thing GVH, you're missing some cracking movies. I suggest you start off by disembowelling a few people and then gradually move up to watching 'The Descent' ;-).

Saje | July 30, 12:33 CET

There's a trailer for The Strain on it's Amazon.com page. I'm assuming it's Marti's new project. I'm reminded of Marti talking about how much she enjoyed vampires in regards to Buffy vs. Dracula. Despite the virus aspect, from watching that one minute, I'd say it feels classic.

Anyone read the book? Is it worth reading? I can't say that the excerpt did much for me. The video however, did peak my interest.

edited for clarity

[ edited by BreathesStory on 2009-07-30 13:55 ]

BreathesStory | July 30, 13:21 CET

Well I'll definitely give both of them a shot. I think Marti's a great writer (though like any writer she has her flaws - arguably the main one being that she can be overly maudlin; I'm thinking among other episodes of 'Forever'). I'm sad that there's still some nasty Noxon bashing on some of some of the scarier parts of the internet. I'd watch what she wrote (except Grey's Anatomy) just because she wrote 'The Wish' and 'The Prom'

Edited for typo

[ edited by Let Down on 2009-07-30 13:57 ]

Let Down | July 30, 13:57 CET

Damn! That does sound really interesting :( Please stop telling me about interesting TV shows. I don't have time to watch them! On the other hand ... most stuff I like gets cancelled anyway ...

Udo Schmitz | July 30, 14:10 CET

This kind if makes me cringe. I read "The Strain," and... it's just not a good book. That's all I'll say about it. (Listing the reasons why it's bad would take a while.)

QuanticoMVP | July 30, 16:23 CET

Awesome that Marti Noxon has gone independent.

Pointy | July 30, 18:30 CET

Wow, a couple of Tv productions in the works and directing an independent film. She seems a tad busy.

bigsofty | July 30, 19:32 CET

QuanticoMVP, aw man, that's not what I wanted to hear. I bought my dad The Strain for Father's Day in June, it was a last minute gift and I was lucky to see a review for it in the newspaper that same weekend. He loves vampire fiction. The review seemed favorable enough. My dad said he liked it (but I can't always trust his taste, 'cause this is a guy who watches stuff on TV like Charmed, The Lost World, Amazon, etc--anything cheesy with T&A, plus he reads a steady diet of Anita Blake novels, which I can't really judge for 'cause I haven't read any of 'em, but everyone else makes fun of them, even the folks that like 'em. But hey, I watch and love cartoons, even the classics, so whatever). Was planning on reading it myself, eventually.

Anyway, sounds like a cool project, be nice to see vicious vampires on TV again. Marti Noxon + Guillermo Del Toro material might = cool. Wonder if he'll direct the pilot.

Kris | July 30, 21:59 CET

There's a bit more info including more quotes in this article from The Hollywood Reporter.

moley75 | July 30, 22:41 CET

Re: Anita Blake

The early books were entertaining. I don't know how much she planned out in advance, but I thought one of Hamilton's strengths was her ability to take small, seemingly arbitrary plot points and use them as a spring board to take the story in new unexpected directions.

Then something bad happened. For some reason the books degenerated into repetitious soft porn. Badly written repetitious soft porn. The novels no longer advanced the world, the sex had little meaning, and her editor apparently deserted her. (You can only read: "He was soft, so soft." or "He was hard, so hard." so many times before you just gag.) The first nine or so are great--a nice mix of horror, character development, and a fascinating, intricate new world. And then every thing you love goes to crap.

BreathesStory | July 31, 01:28 CET

I have read The Strain and enjoyed it, totally new kind of vampires, looking forward to the next two. Del Toro is also the co-author of the book.

As far as the Anita Blake books go I have to agree except I would not call several of them "soft porn" they were pretty hard core porn I thought, but the last one has gone back to being just a really good vampire book. The sex is toned way down and toward the end of the book.

rehabber | July 31, 03:58 CET

Maybe I should clarify that what sounded interesting to me, was the HBO series about 70s feminism starring Diane Keaton.

Udo Schmitz | July 31, 08:21 CET