For a long time, Carnival Row was trapped in development hell. The project began as a spec script written in 2005 by Travis Beacham, a script that passed through the hands of directors Neil Jordan, Tarsem Singh, and Guillermo del Toro. Now the idea that was originally intended to be a feature film is coming to Amazon as a series – and even though the show won't be making its debut until August 30th, Amazon has already ordered a second season.
This concept has taken so many years to make it to the screen, it's great to hear that Amazon is happy enough with it, and confident enough that it will reach an audience, that they're already wanting more episodes.
Coming to us from Amazon Studios and Legendary Television, Carnival Row is set in
a Victorian fantasy world filled with mythological immigrant creatures. Feared by humans, they are forbidden to live, love, or fly with freedom. But even in darkness, hope lives, as a human detective and a faerie rekindle a dangerous affair. The city’s uneasy peace collapses when a string of murders reveals a monster no one could imagine.
Directed by Paul McGuigan and Jon Amiel, the series stars Orlando Bloom as a police inspector who investigates the murder of a faerie showgirl, Cara Delevingne as a fairish refugee, David Gyasi as a mysteriously wealthy faun, Karla Crome as a quick-witted faerie love poet, Indira Varma as the matriarch of the family that rules the Burgue, Tamzin Merchant as a member of an artistocratic family, Andrew Gower as a man who's concerned his sister is falling in love with a Puck, and Jamie Harris as a police officer who resents the growing influx of foreign fairies and pix.
Beacham is executive producer on the series with showrunner Rene Echevarria. Bloom serves as producer.
The first season of Carnival Row consists of eight episodes and will be available to view through Amazon at the end of next month.
