Showtime has given a script-to-series commitment to “Gormenghast,” based on Mervyn Peake’s book series. The adaptation will be executive produced by Akiva Goldsman and “American Gods” author Neil Gaiman.
The books center on the inhabitants of the city-sized castle Gormenghast. Its denizens are only vaguely aware of how or why the castle came to be, but over the course of the series the powers that have held the castle in place are challenged and the ensuing disruptions reveal its fantastical secrets.
“Being Human” creator Toby Whithouse will serve as executive producer and showrunner. Along with Gaiman and Goldsman, Dante Di Loreto, Oliver Jones, Barry Spikings, and David Stern will serve as executive producers. Showtime will co-produce the series with Fremantle, which also is a producer on Gaiman’s “American Gods” adaptation for Starz.
The book series initially was made up of three novels — “Titus Groan,” “Gormenghast” and “Titus Alone” — all published betweeen 1946 and 1959. A fourth novel, “Titus Awakes,” was in the works by Peake before his death in 1968. His widow finished the book and it was released in 2009.
The series had previously been adapted as a four-episode miniseries in 2000 on the BBC that starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christopher Lee.