George R.R. Martin's 'Wild Cards' coming to TV

"Game Of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin might soon launch another sprawling fantasy world on television.

Universal Cable Productions has acquired the rights to develop Martin's anthology series "Wild Cards" after the author announced the deal on his personal blog, reports variety.com.

Due to Martin's exclusive development agreement with HBO, the author will not be working on the project.

According to Martin, "the shared world of the 'Wild Cards' diverged from our own on September 15, 1946, when an alien virus was released in the skies over Manhattan, and spread across an unsuspecting Earth. Of those infected, 90 per cent died horribly, drawing the black queen, 9 per cent were twisted and deformed into jokers, while a lucky 1 per cent became blessed with extraordinary and unpredictable powers and became aces."

Martin describes the project as "a series of interlocking books, graphic novels, games? but most of all it is a universe, as large and diverse and exciting as the comic book universes of Marvel and DC (though somewhat grittier, and considerably more realistic and more consistent), with an enormous cast of characters both major and minor".

The first volume in the series was published in 1986, with 22 volumes released to date.

Martin expressed hope that the series would make it to screens "in the next year or two".

Martin's "Game of Thrones" received 23 Emmy nominations for its sixth season this year. The premiere of the seventh season is slated for summer 2017 on HBO internationally and on Star World Premiere HD in India.

--IANS

sug/rb/vt