Sup, weebs. Probably not the news you were hoping to hear, but Skydance Television has just announced that they have attached Patrick Massett and John Zinman to their upcoming live-action adaptation of the anime, Sword Art Online. Massett and Zinman broke into Hollywood together when they wrote the 2001 Angelina Jolie-driven live-action film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Since then the duo has written and produced various shows like Friday Night Lights and NBC’s The Blacklist.
The only silver lining to the announcement is that at least Avatar screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis has been tapped to pen the pilot. Massett and Zinman will serve as the series writers, showrunners and executive producers. Kalogridis will join them as an executive producer along with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross. Ellison and Goldberg have collaborated in the past with big box-office films like Star Trek Into Darkness and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Ross also worked alongside Ellison and Golberg on Ten Days in the Valley and the canceled WGN series Manhattan. She is also currently the head of Skydance Television and she recently released a statement about the project and its new showrunners.
“Patrick and John have shown incredible range in their storytelling capabilities, from subtle character drama to big, world-building action, and we are beyond fortunate that they have joined the Skydance family. We’re already deep in development with Patrick, John, and Laeta on our larger than life Skydance SAO series, in which we aim not only to satisfy the franchise’s enthusiastic sci-fi and anime fan base but also to appeal to new TV audiences the world over.”
Massett and Zinman also released a joint statement along with the announcement.
“The fantastical world of SAO offers an unparalleled opportunity to tell stories that resonate on both an epic and human scale. We couldn’t ask for better partners than Skydance and Laeta to help us bring this global pop culture phenomenon to new life on television.”
Well, I guess there’s nothing to worry about now, right guys?
There is definitely some major players here. There is no doubt the series will be based in an American setting, but the question is just how well will they be able to adapt the source material. How do you juggle introducing Sword Art Online to an entirely new audience while still trying to please the dedicated fanbase that has already made it a worldwide phenomenon? This still seems to be the riddle that Hollywood has yet to crack, but when they finally do, you can bet your ass they will be driving in truckloads of money to the bank.
No scheduled premiere date is set for the series.
Source: Deadline
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