The Man In The High Castle creator and former X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz will shepherd the fan-favorite Warhammer 40,000 universe into a live-action TV series, Big Light Productions and Games Workshop announced today.
Titled “Eisenhorn,” the series will draw from the series of novels of the same name, originally written by comic scribe Dan Abnett. It’s officially described as follows: While humanity’s armies wage unending war across a million battlefields, in the darkness, a secret conflict rages – fought by the agents of the Imperial Inquisition. Drawing from sci-fi, fantasy and crime genres, Eisenhorn will see Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn and his band of investigators fight to thwart the monstrous schemes of aliens, heretics and daemons before mankind’s doom is sealed.
Spotnitz will showrun and executive produce the series, no broadcast partner or streaming platform is attached currently, but it will soon be shopped out to networks.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Games Workshop to develop the beloved visionary world of Warhammer 40,000 into a TV series,” Spotnitz said. “Warhammer 40,000 is steeped in rich and complex lore, with a myriad of traditions and stories that have accumulated over time in this thrilling and complex world, making it one of the most exciting properties to adapt for television audiences and the franchise’s loyal global fanbase. There is nothing else like it on television, and we are incredibly excited to tap into our own experience creating imaginative, complex and compelling worlds to bring this incredible saga to the screen.”
Andy Smillie, Games Workshop’s Global Head of Marketing & Media, adds, “We’re thrilled to be working with Frank and his team at Big Light. Warhammer 40,000 has a massive global fanbase – they are a passionate community of Warhammer hobbyists who love to engage with our characters, stories and games. I’m truly delighted we are able to develop a show that will reward their loyalty. Inquisitor Eisenhorn represents one of the best-loved characters within our worlds, and we’re excited to share his exploits and adventures with audiences new and old. Frank and his outstanding team at Big Light have done amazing things with other properties, bringing complex worlds to the screen, and we can’t wait to see what our partnership produces for the grim darkness of Warhammer 40,000.”
Author Dan Abnett said, “Gregor Eisenhorn is a relentless force in the dark future of the Warhammer universe: a destroyer of daemons and a purger of heretics, implacable, powerful and dedicated. But the appeal to me, from the moment I started writing him, was his complexity. He is not the simple, ruthless hero he appears to be. His battle with the Warp leads him into dark places and forces him to question his duty, his understanding of the Imperium, and his own identity. With Eisenhorn, it’s not just the adventures, and they are certainly vivid: it’s the journey he takes to the very limits of what he is and what it means to be loyal.”
The Warhammer miniature game first began in 1987, created by Rick Priestley. This marks the first time it has been adapted into a live-action medium though a CGI-animated movie, Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie, was released in 2010 (featuring a script by Abnett).
