MTV and Sonar Entertainment have announced a development deal to adapt Terry Brooks’ international best-selling fantasy novels “Shannara” for the small screen. Jon Favreau will direct and executive produce and Al Gough and Miles Millar (“Smallville,” Spider-Man 2) will write and executive produce if the project goes to series. Terry Brooks and Dan Farah will also serve as executive producers.
President of MTV Programming Susanne Daniels said: “I am thrilled to be working with the ‘Smallville’ creators Al and Miles again along with the amazingly talented Jon Favreau. We feel that the Shannara novels are a perfect fit for MTV as this type of fantasy genre has continuously proved to resonate with our audience.”
Sonar Entertainment CEO Stewart Till said: “This collaboration with MTV, combined with the amazing creative talent attached to this project, including our existing relationship with Terry Brooks and Dan Farah of Farah Films, gives us tremendous confidence that we have a potential hit property with appeal to audiences worldwide. This deal also reflects Sonar’s emerging strategy to become a leading supplier of groundbreaking series programming.”
“Shannara” is set in our world, thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization. The story is centered on the Shannara family, whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world. Should the show go to series, producers plan to base the show’s first season on “The Elfstones of Shannara,” the second title in the series, a fan favorite which spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and is accredited with cementing the series place in the fantasy world.
The Shannara” books are estimated to be the highest-selling un-adapted fantasy book series in the world. Terry Brooks is considered to be the second highest-selling living fantasy author, after “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling. More than thirty years after the release of the first “Shannara” novel, Terry Brooks’ latest additions to the series continue to be international best sellers. Another three books are set to be published in 2014.
“I believe we have formed the perfect team to bring ‘Shannara’ to life on screen” said Brooks. “The adaptation of these books is very important to me, and I believe we are on the right track in our endeavor to create an epic television series that both new and old fans of the books will love.”
