Roger Zelazny’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Amber is headed to the small screen, courtesy of Stephen Colbert, Variety reports.
The late-night talk show host has joined the planned adaptation as an executive producer.
Zelazny’s novels follow a prince named Corwin who has the power to travel between worlds. The series kicked off in 1970 with Nine Princes in Amber, and nine novels followed; the last one, Prince of Chaos, was published in 1991, four years before Zelazny’s death.
Fantasy author George R.R. Martin posted on his blog last October that he’d like to see a television adaptation of Zelazny’s series, writing, “I will never understand why Corwin and his siblings are not starring in their own show. And hey, if epic fantasy continues to do well, maybe we will finally get that. A boy can dream.”
“George R.R. Martin and I have similar dreams,” Colbert said in a statement. “I’ve carried the story of Corwin in my head for over 40 years, and I’m thrilled to partner with Skybound and Vincent Newman to bring these worlds to life. All roads lead to Amber, and I’m happy to be walking them.”
David Alpert, the CEO of Skybound Entertainment, which is developing the series with Vincent Newman Entertainment, said, “Adapting one of my favorite book series of all time is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Producing it alongside someone like Stephen Colbert, who is a true-blue super fan, is a thrill for me, and will be for anyone who’s ever listened to Stephen talk about fantasy.”
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
