Grant Morrison & Brian Taylor Adapting Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World & Graphic Novel Happy!
Aldous Huxley’s classic 1931 novel Brave New World is being adapted for Syfy by comic book legend Grant Morrison and Jonah Hex screenwriter Brian Taylor it has been announced.
Brave New World is set in a dystopian futuristic society, where people are grown in tanks and drugged to be ‘happy’, but in doing so, it removes various freedoms. Children are created and conditioned to play a specific role in society, which is split into castes. For example, if you’re born as a factory worker, you’re conditioned to like living in cities and have no interest in books. The story follows Bernard, a psychologist and member of the upper caste. However, he feels like an outsider and that he doesn’t fit in to his place in society. Together with Lenina, another member of the upper caste, they take a trip to the Reservation – a place where their strict society’s rules do not apply. Seeing what the world could be like, Bernard returns to fight against the dehumanisation of the populace, and incite it’s citizens to fight back…
Grant Morrison is a prolific comic book writer, probably best known for his recent run on the Batman & Robin books, which popularised the character of Damian Wayne, son of Batman/Bruce Wayne, and saw Dick Grayson don the cowl of the Bat. Brave New World would be Morrison’s first major TV series. Brian Taylor was the screenwriter of 2010’s Jonah Hex movie, director of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and director & screenwriter of the Crank movies.
Brave New World, is a co-production between Universal Cable Productions & Amblin TV. UCP are responsible for shows such as Suits, 12 Monkeys, Mr. Robot, Ascension and are also developing George R.R. Martin’s superhero show, Wild Cards. Amblin TV developed American Gothic, Under the Dome, Terra Nova and Minority Report.
As part of this deal, Syfy & UCP are also developing Grant Morrison’s graphic novel Happy! This is the story of Nick Sax, a corrupt, intoxicated ex-cop turned hit-man, adrift in a stinking twilight world of casual murder, soulless sex, eczema, and betrayal. With a hit gone wrong, a bullet in his side, the cops and the mob on his tail, and a monstrous child killer in a Santa suit on the loose, Nick and his world will be changed forever… by a tiny blue horse called Happy!
As with all projects this early in development, there’s no way to tell when, or even if they will make it to a full series. We’ll keep you updated when we hear more.
