Scott Rudin and Eli Bush produced the adaptation of author Jeff VanderMeer's novel Annihilation for Paramount, and a few years ago it was announced that Paramount had also purchased the film rights to VanderMeer's novel Borne, with Rudin and Bush attached to produce that adaptation as well. Given the way the release of the ANNIHILATION film was handled last year – Paramount gave the international distribution rights over to Netflix because there were fears that the movie was "too intellectual" and "too complicated" for the average viewer – it's no surprise to hear that Borne is no longer set up at that studio.
Instead, AMC Studios has acquired the television rights to develop a series based on the Borne universe novels. VanderMeer will be serving as an executive producer and creative consultant on the show.
A description of VanderMeer's Borne goes like this:
In a ruined, nameless city of the future, Rachel makes her living as a scavenger. She finds a creature she names Borne entangled in the fur of Mord, a gigantic despotic bear that once prowled the corridors of a biotech firm, the Company, until he was experimented on, grew large, learned to fly, and broke free. Made insane by the company’s torture of him, Mord terrorizes the city even as he provides sustenance for scavengers.
At first, Borne looks like nothing at all?just a green lump that might be a discard from the Company, which, although severely damaged, is rumored to still make creatures and send them to far-distant places that have not yet suffered collapse.
Borne reminds Rachel of the island nation of her birth, now long lost to rising seas. She feels an attachment that she resents: attachments are traps, and in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary, Rachel convinces her lover, Wick?a special kind of dealer?not to render down Borne as raw genetic material for the drugs he sells.
But nothing is quite the way it seems: not the past, not the present, not the future. If Wick is hiding secrets, so is Rachel?and Borne most of all. What Rachel finds hidden deep within the Company will change everything and everyone. There, lost and forgotten things have lingered and grown. What they have grown into is mighty indeed.
VanderMeer said he is
so excited about this partnership and working with AMC on the Borne universe. I’ve had such productive, energizing, and creative conversations with the wonderful folks involved and look forward to the road ahead."
AMC's Ben Davis says "the Borne universe" is
a totally unique piece of IP and Jeff has created a vivid postapocalyptic world with enormous opportunity for a visual medium like television."
VanderMeer's series of Borne novels consists of Borne (you can purchase a copy HERE), The Strange Bird (buy it HERE), and Dead Astronauts (available HERE).
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