Fox TV to adapt Lev Grossman's The Magicians

[Cherry]

http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/fox...ans-to-series-with-x-men-first-class-scribes/

I'm somewhat interested in the Harry Potter / Narnia mashup. Has anyone read the book? What sort of magic do the characters have?

 

[Cherry]

Wow, really? No one cares? lol

 

[GhostPoet]

I'm interested. It could go either way...they could make it fluff or really dig in and make something strong. but I have a feeling it'll be fluff. :/

 

[Cherry]

Have you read the book(s)? I'm very interested to hear what the magic system is like? Are the powers universal to all witches/wizards, or are they personalized?

 

[GhostPoet]

Never read the books. sorry

 

[Ultra Lantern]

When it comes to tv,I might watch it.

 

[Gabe99]

Syfy Developing ‘Pax Romana’ Miniseries, ‘The Magicians’ Series

 

[Gabe99]

The Mary Sue:
Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and the Mainstreaming of Fan Culture

A few weeks ago, the Syfy network announced their plans to adapt Lev Grossman’s fantasy trilogy, The Magicians, into an hourlong drama series. The small handful of blogs and online news outlets who covered the story labelled the project “Harry Potter for adults,” or else slapped it with a somewhat derisive-sounding “Young Adult fantasy” label. On the surface, it’s easy to see how people can mistake The Magicians for any number of other “young people discovering they’re mystically special” narrative, but it’s a description that is, nevertheless, inaccurate.

Now I’m not crazy. I know a story about a group of young adults who attend a magic school and then go traipsing around an alternate universe which can be accessed via an interstitial forest sounds a lot like “Harry Potter/Narnia for adults.” But what that description betrays is a failure to understand that Grossman’s series isn’t a rip-off of either story, but is instead something newer and stranger than that.

I’d argue the books are better described as a fanfiction composed of nothing but Mary Sues and Gary Stus. Where the Gary Stu narrative would feature the author’s fictional surrogate gatecrashing Hogwarts, making out with Hermione and winning the Quidditch cup, Grossman instead constructs The Magicians as a wish fulfillment theme park for his lead character, Quentin Coldwater, with two main attractions: Brakebills and Fillory.

 

[Gabe99]

NY TIMES SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW:
Enchanted Connections ‘The Magician’s Land,’ by Lev Grossman

If Lev Grossman’s “The Magicians” was like “The Secret History” crossed with “Harry Potter,” and if its sequel, “The Magician King,” was a descendant of “The Chronicles of Narnia” (with a touch of the 1990s flick “The Craft” thrown in), then what cultural mash-up does Lev Grossman conjure in “The Magician’s Land,” the trilogy’s final book? I can’t tell you, because I was too thoroughly swept away by this richly imagined and continually surprising novel to be concerned with cute comparisons.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/syfy-taps-mike-cahill-direct-729549

Syfy Taps Mike Cahill to Direct 'The Magicians' (Exclusive)
12:16 PM PDT 9/2/2014 by Lesley Goldberg

The 'Another Earth' alum will oversee the pilot

Syfy is looking to the film world to set the tone for its adaptation of The Magicians.

The NBCUniversal-owned cable network has tapped Another Earth's Mike Cahill to direct the pilot for its adaptation of Lev Grossman's best-selling book series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The Magicians, from Universal Cable Productions, centers on two 20-somethings who, while studying magic in New York, discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as kids is real and poses grave danger to humanity. John McNamara (Prime Suspect) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural) will pen the script, with Michael London (Milk) producing. Cahill will direct the pilot, which begins production later this year.

“We were impressed with Mike’s feature work and his passion for this material," said Bill McGoldrick, evp original content at Syfy. "We are very excited that he will be the one bringing The Magicians to life.”

Cahill wrote and directed the 2011 Sundance hit Another Earth as well as sci-fi entry I, Origins. Both films received the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize — awarded for movies focusing on science or technology — at Sundance.

Cahill is repped by WME and Sloane Offer.

Trailer for Another Earth:
[YT]QlPfAYpnpuw[/YT]
This could work.

 

[Sawyer]

http://deadline.com/2014/11/stella-...s-lev-grossman-fantasy-books-syfy-1201275827/

Stella Maeve, Hale Appleman & Arjun Gupta Cast A Spell On ‘The Magicians’
by Nellie Andreeva

Stella Maeve (Chicago PD), Hale Appleman (Smash) and Arjun Gupta (How To Get Away With Murder) have landed key roles in Syfy pilot The Magicians, an adaptation of Lev Grossman’s bestselling fantasy book trilogy. Produced by Universal Cable Prods, The Magicians follows 20-somethings who, while studying magic in New York, discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real and poses grave danger to humanity. Production is slated to get underway next month in New Orleans.

Maeve, repped by Paradigm and Principato-Young Entertainment, will play Julia, a wealthy and brilliant Ivy-Leaguer who seems destined for success, but her future plans are forever altered after she is denied admittance to the mysterious Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. Appleman, repped by Innovative Artists and D2 Management, will play Eliot, a student at the Brakebills who will prove a sometimes frustrating ally in Quentin’s fortunes, and may soon factor into a series of perilous adventures. Gupta, repped by Gersh and Untitled Entertainment, will play Penny, Quentin’s roommate at Brakebills. He is bedeviled by voices that hint at pathways to other worlds.

 

[Specter313]

Syfy has summoned Jason Ralph and Sosie Bacon for the lead roles in The Magicians, its adaptation of the bestselling fantasy trilogy by Lev Grossman.

Ralph (Looking, Blue Bloods) will star as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant and withdrawn young man recruited as a student at the mysterious Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy in Upstate New York, where he discovers that the Narnia-like world from a series of children’s books he loved as a child is all too real and poses a danger to humanity.

Bacon (The Closer) will play the intensely shy Alice, who’s an outcast among her fellow Brakebills students but emerges as the most brilliant practitioner of magic in her class.

The two join the previously cast Stella Maeve as Julia, Hale Appleman as Elliot and Arjun Gupta as Penny.

Produced by Universal Cable Productions, the pilot was written by John McNamara (Prime Suspect) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural); Michael London (Milk) is producing with Janice Williams (All Good Girls). Production is set to begin this month in New Orleans.

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/12/03/syfys-the-magicians-finds-its-two-leads/

 

[Sawyer]

Series Order

 

[Sawyer]

Trailer is out. Can't post because of language, but it looks good.

 

[Specter313]

Yeah, it does. The shot of the Beast was pretty cool to see and appropriately creepy.

 

[TheVileOne]

It does look like Harry Potter for hipster yuppies.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Doesn't look like my kind of thing but nice to see Nadia alive and well!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It does look like Harry Potter for hipster yuppies.

Yeah, it couldn't look more annoying, dank and ugly. Well, that's a pass.

 

[Sithborg]

Syfy has really been trying, so I will try it out.

 

[Sawyer]

Yeah, it couldn't look more annoying, dank and ugly. Well, that's a pass.

 

[Sawyer]

Buzzfeed: 11 Things To Know About the Series

 

[Marvolo]

Am I crazy for that trailer giving me a Being Human vibe?

I hope it's as good as Being Human. I need something to fill that hole.

 

[Specter313]

“The Vatican Tapes” actress Olivia Taylor Dudley will round out the central cast of “The Magicians,” Syfy’s adaptation of the bestselling fantasy trilogy by Lev Grossman.

Buzzfeed reports she’ll play magical prodigy Alice, joining the previously cast Jason Ralph as Quentin, Stella Maeve as Julia, Hale Appleman as Eliot, Arjun Gupta as Penny and Summer Bishil as Margo.

Premiering in 2016, “The Magicians” follows Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant and withdrawn young man recruited as a student at the mysterious Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy in Upstate New York, where he discovers that the Narnia-like world from a series of children’s books he loved as a child is all too real and poses a danger to humanity.

Syfy also announced the addition of Rick Worthy as Dean Fogg, Anne Dudek as Professor Sunderland, Esme Bianco as Eliza and Jade Tailor as Kady. They’ll appear as recurring guest stars in the 13-episode first season.

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/08/04/syfys-the-magicians-rounds-out-its-cast/

 

[Gabe99]

The Magicians (Syfy) NY Comic Con Trailer

 

[rashad]

This looks really good! It's definitely on my radar!