Game of Thrones author George RR Martin has optioned the rights of another one of the fantasy literary creations, meaning that his “werewolf noir” novella The Skin Trade will be coming to our TV screens some time in 2016.
Writing on his personal blog, the author says that his 1988 book will be adapted and produced by Kalinda Vazquez, and will be known simply as Skin Trade when it airs on Cinemax in the US. The story revolves around Willie Flambeaux, a collections agent and werewolf, and his friend Randi Wade, a private investigator uncovering a mystery behind a number of grisly murders in the city they both live in.
Martin will also work as an executive producer on the show, which is now in pre-production.
“I have always thought there was a TV series (or maybe a feature film) in Willie Flambeaux and Randi Wade,” Martin wrote on his blog last night. “Those of you who know the story of Doorways, my ill-fated ABC pilot from the early 90s, may even recall that it was Skin Trade that I was actually trying to sell back in 1991, when I flew out to LA for a round of pitch meetings. So we’re a few decades late…”
The cover of the graphic novel edition of The Skin Trade
In his blog post, Martin talks about The Skin Trade‘s “storied, and complex, publishing history.”
“It was originally written for Night Vision 5, the fifth volume of the prestigious annual horror anthology from the late lamented small press Dark Harvest, where it appeared together with original contributions from Dan Simmons and Stephen King, some stellar company,” Marin said.
“The novella was very well received, and went on to win that year’s World Fantasy Award,” he added.
Martin’s Game of Thrones, which is partially filmed in Northern Ireland, remains one of the most popular and illegally downloaded TV programmes in the world. As one of the series’ executive producers, the author recently won an Emmy when the show was named ‘Best Drama Series’, as well as 11 other accolades on the night, a record win in the history of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
