Cable network AMC is developing a sci-fi series based on RED MARS, a 1992 novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The project is being written and will be exec produced by Jonathan Hensleigh. Robinson's novel follows the first colony of humans on Mars. Michael Jaffe and Howard Braunstein of Jaffe Braunstein Ent. will produce alongside Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza and Eli Kirschner of Created By.
Despite the genre, network execs say the series will be character driven. "This fits in with our bigger vision of wanting series that feel like cinematic one-hour movies," said Christina Wayne, SVP original series and miniseries at AMC. "We're always looking for big genres but to do them in slightly different ways so they feel fresh and new."
AMC's MAD MEN earned the Emmy last month for best drama and won a writing award, and their BREAKING BAD got lead Bryan Cranston the lead actor prize.
They are working on another sci-fi miniseries remake of the 1960s THE PRISONER with Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen. Other projects in development include ICE, about a family in New York's diamond district and CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL based on Glen David Gold's fictionalized biography about magician Charles Carter and his mysterious role in President Harding's death by heart attack in 1923.
"This is definitely a shift for us in terms of where we're getting our material from," Wayne said. "In fiction and nonfiction, there's a great wealth of material for us to cull from."
