Corona | Coming Attractions

Besides being a workaholic, Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro co-wrote three books with Chuck Hogan about vampires taking over the world. The Strain was first published back in 2010, followed by The Fall and then The Night Eternal, the final novel in the series. FX Network has now asked for a pilot to be co-written, produced and directed by del Toro, with the intention of picking up The Strain as a new series for the network.

It's a strange circle of business for del Toro because he originally wanted to make The Strain for network television specifically Fox. After the executives passed on the idea, del Toro and Hogan wrote the books. They were well-received by horror audiences, and that success was all that was needed for several TV networks to want to acquire the screen rights. FX was the network that beat out all the others.

Another strong point in favor of the The Strain television series is with Lost producer Carlton Cuse who will serve as executive producer/showrunner of the proposed series. "Carlton Cuse will be a huge help in carrying this to the finish line,” del Tor told Deadline. “He’s very well established, and a strong sounding board and producer."

Hogan and del Toro will write the pilot for The Strain closer to the end of the year. Mr. Hellboy sees that The Strain TV show can run for three to five seasons easily, using the first two books as a framework for seasons one and two. The final book, The Night Eternal, would need to be split up into two seasons. Del Toro also believes that some of the unused story ideas that he and his co-partner developed for The Strain could wind up in the show, and that the show should also have the freedom to go off and explore different story alternatives. (That's currently what's happening with The Walking Dead TV series at AMC, which uses the comic book as a launching point for its world and characters but is not bound to that earlier telling of the story.)

"One of the reasons I wanted to be involved in cable is I love the long character arcs in these shows, and how they are slightly malleable and the way that secondary characters in the books can become more important in series,” added del Toro. He also told the site that he's a faithful watcher of about 13 TV shows ranging from Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead, Boardwalk Empire and Justified.

The Strain begins with a 737 passenger plane landing at JFK Airport, but no one answers radio calls or opens the doors to come out. When authorities venture inside, they discover what they believe are signs of a deadly viral plague. In fact, this is just the starting point in a war against humans by an old and powerful vampire that has the power to turn humans into loyal soldiers in his army. Several characters begin to realize the implications for what is happening and lead the charge to try and stop the vampire menace before it can outpace humanity's efforts to stop it. A comic book series is being published by Dark Horse Comics that adapts The Strain novels.