Oh boy, 2017 is such an interesting year don’t you think?
It was announced last September by Skydance Television that a live-action television adaptation of Sword Art Online is green-lit.
The series will follow the story of Kirito as he, along with more than 10,000 players, fight to escape a virtual-reality online game filled with danger and mystery.
This project is part of an overall multi-year agreement with writer-producers John Zinman and Patrick Massett. Both have worked on the Hollywood movies Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Blacklist, and Friday Night Lights. Skydance has also confirmed that they have acquired global rights for the Sword Art Online franchise last 2016.
Both Zinman and Massett will be the project’s executive producers, showrunners, and writers. Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar) will be responsible in writing the series’ pilot episode. She is the project’s executive producer along with Marcy Ross, Danna Goldberg and David Ellison.
Kalogridis is also the person responsible for pitching this property to Skydance.
Marcy Ross expressed that “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.”
Zinman and Massett said in a joint statement that “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.”
With Western adaptations of Japanese franchises have giving fans mixed reviews, this announcement is sure not to be appreciated and be fully accepted by SAO fans that easy.
Source: Deadline
