Guillermo del Toro is working on a new dark fantasy television series — and it's coming exclusively to Amazon. Called Carnival Row, the series actually started life as a feature film called A Killing on Carnival Row, written by Travis Beacham, who also wrote del Toro's robot-versus-monster epic Pacific Rim. But since the script was written in 2005, it has struggled to find a home. Thanks to Amazon Studios, it looks like that will finally change.
"We always had too many ideas to fit into the feature."
The show takes place in a Victorian-esque fantasy world filled with magical creatures, and the original script focused on a detective in search of a serial killer, though it's unclear if the TV series will follow the same route. According to del Toro, the shift from film to television will allow him and his writing team to expand the world quite a bit. "We always had too many ideas to fit into the feature," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We can now really focus on the world and the politics of what it is to be a magical being in Victorian steampunk atmosphere where you are seen as a lesser being."
Carnival Row is still in development, so there's no word on when it might debut on Amazon's streaming service, or who might be starring in it. del Toro fans may want to hedge their excitement, however — Amazon recently cancelled its new sci-fi series from X-Files creator Chris Carter before a single episode was filmed. The new show joins a huge lineup of projects currently in development from del Toro, including everything from a sequel to Pacific Rim to a new Silent Hill game in conjunction with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima.