Glen Cook’s epic series The Black Company may be the next fantasy adaptation to make the jump to the television screens—Deadline is reporting that the series is in development with IM Global Television, who are working with Eliza Dushku’s Boston Diva Productions along with David Goyer’s Phantom Four. Dushku, known for her work in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse, will star as The Lady, a dark sorceress who hires the mercenary Black Company.
The Black Company begin their series as a tough, cynical unit who sell their skills to the highest bidder. However, when they learn that an ancient prophecy may be coming true, they have to reevaluate their choices, and most importantly, decide whether to forsake old loyalties. The Lady, who rules the Northern Empire, hires the Black Company for her own ends.
Goyer will be an executive producer for the show, along with Dushku, Nate Dushku, and Ami Lourie of Boston Diva. Dushku spoke of the series’ scope in her statement, saying, “The Black Company is vast in scope yet remains fundamentally relevant through the morally ambiguous choices it presents at every turn.”
Dushku’s production company has optioned the ten-book epic fantasy series, as well a forthcoming book titled Port of Shadows, tentatively scheduled for release in 2018 from Tor Books, which chronicles the events surrounding Croker and his cohort right after the first three Black Company books. You can learn more about the series in Graeme Flory’s Reread of The Black Company, and as always we’re eager to hear your casting ideas in the comments.
Done right – gritty, dark, and morally ambiguous, this could be good. The Black Company is almost the trope namer of grim fantasy and it must not be treated lightly.
Hooo boy. I don’t want to get my hopes up (I mean where the hell is that Old Man’s War series that I heard about 3 years ago?) – but I’m super excited that this could happen.
It could potentially fill the gap that GoT leaves if people don’t have too much dark fantasy fatigue by then.
I loved Dushku as Faith, she’s excellent at playing ‘compelling, but morally grey’.
I would love to see a lot of grizzled veteran actors like Ray Winstone in this. Very meat-and-potatoes builds. Goblin should be someone like Burn Gorman or the guy who was Spud in Trainspotting. Or maybe played by a woman, since he’s supposed to have a high voice. One-Eye? How about someone who isn’t Morgan Freeman or Samuel L. Jackson for a change. Would love to see what is done with The Limper and the many Taken.
All I know is that this could be amazing. It SHOULD be amazing. I just hope it actually happens.
Excellent choice for the lady, but if they don’t get Croaker right, all is for naught. It has to work, because we won’t get Toadkiller dog until at least season 2.
Michael Wincott is my Croaker.
I assume this would have to eventually air on a premium network like HBO? There is no way to make the violence and sexuality of the Black Company series passable for regular television without ruining it. I’m glad this is going to TV with the series complete (not counting Port of Shadows which is clearly an add on) unlike the Rothfuss and Sanderson TV/movie deals.
As long as I get to see the name “Toadkiller Dog” somewhere in the credits, I’m fine with everything else.
Hmmm. I might be interested in that. ?
So they have to get someone good for Croaker AND Darling. Silent may be tough too. There are a lot of characters that will have to be done right to keep the feel of the Black Company: the Captain, Lieutenant, and Raven will round out the others already mentioned and must be solid choices or the feel will evaporate.
I reread the first three after finishing Glittering Stone, and realized they were too short- and the last four too long.
This should be a good fit for today’s production abilities. I’m actually looking forward to it.
No.No.No.
Having Dushku star means changing the stories to feature the Lady.
The Lady is not the star. Croaker is the star. This does not bode well.
Eliza is so not The Lady.
@6 – what sexuality? Aside from Darling, the Amazon legion, and a few scattered references (such as the trip down the river South), there is very little sex in the books, at least through Dreams of Steel (where I’m currently at in my listen; it’s been years since I’ve read them).
Isaach De Bankolé (who was in The Last Witch Hunter) might be a good One-Eye.
Best part about this news is that there is a, even if only provisional, date for Port of Shadows. That’s the thing I’m really exited for
If the series actually manages to get on the screen, I hope it won’t be a cheap GoT-knockoff, sure its dark and gritty fantasy, but very different from GoT
One good thing about this – it will ensure that unlike GoT and half the other fantasy epics around, this one will be primarily older people – the Company has been around a long time, and most of the members are older until we get deep in the south.
That may make casting a lot cheaper too :)
Let’s not screw this up. It is probably the one and only chance for this to happen.
The second I see the casting is a bunch of kiddos I’ll drop out faster than I dropped Shannara after the first 30 minutes.
I’m more interested in who will be cast as soulcatcher, the other Senjack sister and bat shit crazy to boot. I think there will be a lot chopped out to make this into a TV show, bleak seasons will probably get dropped or combined with the following book which is the same events seen from croaker and the lady’s pov. I hope they don’t change the names of the city’s that was a fun part of the books. Oh and werepanthers don’t forget them.
@12 Croaker and Lady get it on at least a couple times, there is a she-devil-god that has four boobs and a necklace of penises, there is general widespread raping and pillaging, not to mention sexual undertones of Lady and Soulcatcher in general with their outfits, etc. All-together I doubt the show would work on ABC. That’s not even considering the gore, blood, and violence.
I kind of don’t care if this is good or not, as long as Cook gets a payday out of it. He’s been my blue-collar author hero since he was working on the auto assembly line. I always thought he should get more recognition, preferably in the form of money.
Anyone else remember his Starfisher trilogy?
Patton Oswalt for Goblin. Please.
Re: Patton Oswalt as Goblin. Oh god please, no.
I have been a huge Glen Cook fan for many years. If nothing else, at least GC will get paid. We also have some news about the loooong awaited Port of Shadows. Can’t wait for that book. Come on 2018.
Ok. So. Longtime fan of the series, obviously excited about the possibility of a TV series. I think it is going to be a big change from Game of Thrones, and I am confident that the audience would agree. GoT is a highly political series, while the Black Company is a morality study.
As for casting, I am curious to see what happens. But I would add to the “critical characters” list the following: Elmo, Silent, Otto, and Hagop. I would also cast a vote for Aaron Eckhart as Croaker.
@11 – She’s not the star of the Books of the North, but she completely steals every scene she’s in, and becomes the ensemble dark horse of the Books of the South and completely runs away with it when she’s the annalist. Oh, Lord, the massacre of the priests…!
I am both excited and nervous about this news, because there are just so many things that can go wrong with the adaptation, but so desperately want it to go right.
Nathan Jones for Shifter. (Also my vote for Nappa if they ever do dbz right). Big as a house, and there’s nothing a fake beard and giant red robe can’t hide.
What I find really interesting about this is that a Black Company TV show and a Wheel of Time TV show are in development at the same time since it is pretty obvious that WoT author RJ’s main bad guys the Foresaken are pretty much lifted right from the pages of the Black Company books. If both shows end up getting made are they both going to have very similar sets of bad guys? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
omg im sooo worried. my bookshelf has literally every one of his books besides garret p.I. cuz thats the only one I don’t like. glenn cook is my favorite author of all time and black company my favorite series. I have waited for this day but I still am really apprehensive about them screwing it up. I like GoT but done well this will blow it out of the water. I am worried that they will make lady the star which she is NOT. she is my favorite character but the whole damn story revolves around croaker and the company. a good caste is a must and they will have to put it on HBO, showtime, or starz, etc. no way this series will make it on regular tv. too much violence and adult themes. glenn cook pretty much invented dark fantasy with this series and I would really hate to see them butcher it. heres hoping. either way I guess I can be happy that cook will get a good pay day. anyone else hoping for a dread empire too?? (or dark war….or star fishers….or dragon never sleeps….or any of them…)
one final notE for the producers if they are ever slumming it here, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST FOLLOW THE BOOKS WORD FOR WORD!!! THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO!! DONT SCREW THIS UP!!
I can’t actually picture what this would look like done well. In my head, all I can see is a director trying too hard to make it like GoT and stressing the political angles instead of the personal side of the story. They’re going to have a hard time finding actors who can be adequately unattractive to be in the Company’s world. (Willow Swan excluded, obviously.) I’m also imagining that they’re planning to make Lady and Soulcatcher more present than they ought to be like they did with LotR. And I really don’t think they’ll be able to introduce Darling on TV the way Cook did in the books.
At this point, I only hope they’ve paid Cook well enough. I want him to be able to keep writing! Can’t wait for Port of Shadows!
OH PLEASE BE GOOD FOR THE LOVE OF THE WHITE ROSE
salman khan – goblin
John Larroquette – Captain
Jason Bateman – Croaker
Stephen Moyer – Raven
Idris Elba – One-Eye
Michelle Williams – Darling
great news about POS in 2018 -looking forward to re-reading this excellent serires. is there any word about Pitiless Rain btw?
Jean Reno has my vote for Croaker. Plenty tough, but with an intellectual side. As for Soulcatcher, I figure Dushku will take on that role as well. Her and The Lady are twins after all, aren’t they? And Dushku has certainly shown that she can flip between characters quickly and seamlessly (re: every single ep of Dollhouse).
Oh! And Danny Trejo just HAS to play Sergeant Elmo!
While the major WoT and BC villians may seem similar (Forsaken vs Taken), the Taken seemed to largely backstab each other directly (through various spells) while the Forsaken were much subtler and indirect in implementing their various treacheries (as befitted the Eastern motif of RJ’s mythology).
Casting Dushku as Lady (and having her as a co-producer) almost certainly does mean a lot of screen time for her personally. BUT this does not necessarily mean the Lady will be the center of the story. If Dushku also plays Soulcatcher – the Lady’s twin sister – the story doesn’t need to change much, if at all. Soulcatcher shows up early and fairly often, as the Company’s official Northern Empire patron. The Company even wears Soulcatcher’s heraldic badge (as the closest they ever come to wearing to an NE uniform) for most of the early books. By the time Soulcatcher turns into a major enemy, the Lady has personally involved herself with the company. Remember those [sexually] embarrassing dreams about the Lady that Croaker keeps referring to obliquely in the early books? I’m betting we’ll see some [literally!] fleshed out versions of those in the first season!
@18: I would have thought like you, but take a look at season 02 of Into the Badlands. IMO, this means there’s a possibility this might be done even on ABC.
However, it’ll suck.
Good news:
– A new BC book
– Glen Cook making (at last!) money and recognition
– More people discovering these wonderful books
Bad news: This will suck. Let me explain why
First, as others, I fear the show may become dushku-centric, and shift the focus away from the company. This is not granted, and there may be a way around with Soulcatcher, but still.
Tell me this isn’t the David Goyer responsible for Man of Steel and BvS… Please?
And then? The money.
We have a LOT of exemple of fantasy shows that feel cheap and suck more or less.
There’s also this tendency to have everyone be young and attractive.
However, GoT has shown us that, attractiveness aside, a show may be cool and don’t feel cheap.
But, budget-wise, the Black Company and GoT are very different animals. GoT’s budget is strained by each and every battle. The black company ones have way more people, and a LOT of sorcery. CGI kills your budget almost as fast as you can say forvalaka
=> They won’t have the money to do this right
=> Legends of the Sucker, anyone?
Longtime Glen Cook fan. As a writer, GRRM can’t carry Cook’s jockstrap.
im excited and at the same time not.
The story is about croaker and the black company….its like a medieval fantasy version of band of brothers.
They should focus on them, not on the lady. The lady only appears twice in the first book…literally
I really hope they don’t mess this up by casting young actors in the roles of the mercenaries. But I have a bad feeling that they will try to make it a cash-grab and gear it towards a broader audience by having younger/hot actors in the roles of the company. Plus it’s a gritty grim-dark, sorcery tale of your regular soldier trying to overcome a world on the brink of annilhation, so why they wouldn’t go that route would baffle any fan of this series. I hope Syfy has no part in this (knowing their track record for developing horriable showes from books like the Dresden files) or MTV (which butchered Terry Brook’s Shannara).
One film that has been lost is Rhapsody (from Elizabeth Haydon’s Symphony of Ages series), which was suppose to be developed by Fox Animation back in the early 2000s. And not much news out there for the development of Mistborn or any other of Brandon Sanderson’s books. So if the producers actually develop this show I at least hope they will keep it loyal to the book and if they can cast Croaker correctly I might let some other things slide. But I’m not getting excited till I see the casting list.
Currently enjoying the books on audio as i work around the house. Got all the way up to and getting through book 2 of Glittering stone. I still say to this day the worst transition of fantasy from book to any other medium was Eragon. I think the movie was such a over steaming pile of crap that I wonder how many people read or refused to read the series because of that epic fail. I have little faith, because I am not enthused with Dushku. But, who knows.. maybe I will be surprised. I hope I am. I just fear like everything else on TV, it will either be shit, or if it is really good, will be taken off before it’s time. I would be happy to see Cook getting some of his long over due returns.
There can only be on Croaker. Jerry Doyle from Babylon 5.
There can be only one lady. MIra Furlan from B5.
Don’t believe me? Look them up and then see the cover for She is the Darkness and tell me thy don’t fit the part.
Always pictured someone like Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Mogaba. Who would play Longshadow…..?
I’m finding it impossible to picture this not being a disappointment. But I’d love to be wrong.
I know Dushku is developing and wanting to star as the Lady but I think Patricia Velasquez would be better as the Lady. Plus the main protagonist and narrator is Croker.
For 20-odd years I have fantasized about pitching this series as Lord of the Rings meets Platoon. My excitement that the series–second only to LotR in the fantasy pantheon–will get made is tempered by the extreme anxieties so well-articulated by others here. As much as I love the first book, my biggest fear is that poor execution of it will preclude an adaptation of Shadows Linger, or that worse, it will suck. The mystery/suspense-driven plot could be at least as gripping as that surrounding LotRs Black Riders and Bilbo’s curious little ring, but getting/casting Marron Shed–the series most compelling chapter IMO–right seems like asking for the impossible. If I were to ever dip my toes into screenwriting this would be the project I would choose as it could easily put GoT to shame. I just hope/pray Glen Cook is listened to in development…
Captain- John Goodman
Silent- Dave Chapelle
Goblin- Danny DeVito
Soulcatcher- Gillian Anderson
Marron Shed- Zach Galifianacus
Croaker- above the skill range of any living actor
Michael Clark Duncan for mogaba?
Is it weird that I can’t help picturing Alan Alda as Croaker?
that sounds awful, dushku would be terrible.
kind of like the abomination they made of the last kingdom novels.
stuff like this should only be done by the likes of HBO
@49, I hope you’re joking. The casting choices for the roles in The Last Kingdom were superb!
I would suggest that Rupert Friend, who viewers will know as Peter Quinn from Homeland would make an excellent, if not ideal, Croaked. Right age, great actor, not too expensive, looking for work… all the best reasons in the world.
Oh, man… I hate to break this to you: http://deadline.com/2016/07/babylon-5-actor-jerry-doyle-dies-at-60-1201794378/
We’ve lost so many of the great talents from that show.
I think Gerald Butler would make a great Croaker.
I am so excited about this. Years ago I wrote a teleplay for a pilot, and upon contacting Me. Cooks agent, was informed that rights had recently been sold to Mr. Goyer. I still sent a copy of my script to Glenn Cook and got a handwritten letter in response. My casting choices, and who I saw in my head when writing it were:
Croaker – Hugh Laurie
Captain – Robert Duvall
Goblin – Bob Hoskins (I know he’s dead, but a boy can dream)
One-eye – Garrett Morris
Tom-Tom – Louis Gossett Jr
Silent – Ian McShane
Lady – Emily Browning
Soulcatcher – Emmy Rossum
Shifter – Bill Night
The lieutenant – Kieffer Sutherland
If you look at the She is the Darkness hardcover cover art, you will see that Babylon 5’s Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi) and Mira Furlan (Delenn) are Croaker and Lady. Though Claudia Christian would make a sprightly SOulcatcher, or Patricia Tallman.
I’m seeing people point to Croaker as the main character of the Black Company books. I believe this is false.
The Company is the main character. Croaker is one of many changing voices of the Company.
Individuals come and go, but the Black Company endures.
Absolutely delighted to learn that a new book is coming out…cautious about the prospect of a dramatization but will give it a look.(Any news in recent months?)
Soulcatcher is not the TWIN of the Lady,as I recall when they were searching out her true name they found a record of Dorotea (the Lady) being too young to attend an event her sisters attended.
Cook once told me he thought the Lady would look a lot like Winona Ryder.
Since the April flurry of news, it has gone worryingly quiet on the TV series ; we were told to expect more casting news shortly, but nothing has emerged since. This does not bode well, especially when GoT has announced a new series in 2019.
Now to a degree I don’t care who makes it, so long as Glen is personally involved and has direct input into the critical artistic and casting decisions. Lets face it, he isn’t getting any younger (or fitter !) so they need to crack on with it.
As for the new book, best news I’ve heard in years….so long as it happens !
been a fan of the glen cook`s the black company since the first book was published , wished for years to see it turned into a series of films . this could work , if handled the way game of thrones has been , but if they go the shannara chronicles route it will suck like the black hole in the center of the galaxy ! I`ve watched that piece of garbage , the only thing they kept from the novels was the names of characters ! it`s nothing more than buffy the vampire slayer with elves and gnomes ! hope I`m wrong , but I really expect too be highly disappointed !
I have been waiting for this for years…if the screenplay stays true to the books, presents the characters exactly like they are in the books, complete with identical personalities, powers, and physical attributes this could be very good. But please for the love of god, do NOT get any writers and/or directors who think that they can somehow improve on what was an excellent and highly successful books series, via “artistic license”. Far to many book to fil translations were destroyed in such a way through over sexualization, we don’t need to see movie characters doing thed nasty every 5 minutes, there is an entire internet full of free porn for that should we so desire it, misrepresenting characters, omitting or killing off important characters, and just distorting the storyline until its barely recognizable from the original book, the “Shannara Chronicles” comes to mind. Just do it like you read it in the books, and since the books are mostly from the perspective of the Annalist “croaker, sleepy, lady etc”, it should be an easy translation, complete with overlaying narrative. And for the love of god, DONT miscast! A series doesn’t need 7 figure actors to be great, nor does it need every black character to be played by Samuel L Jackson or Denzel Washington (Both of which are far too old to play Mogaba, and too tall to play One-eye) as someone else stated, there are many fine black actors, give them a chance. Please don’t do any race and sex swapping of the characters for the sake of political correctness, that shit just ruins it for a lot of people who are book purists and will diminish the series as a whole. And finally, the Taken were described in great detail, especially Soulcatcher, Shifter, and the Limper…use that description to a “T”..and don’t forget Catchers many voices.
One last thing…”Raven” must be played by someone who can emit the same intensity.
Jason Stathem for Croaker!
Nope, can’t do it. No one to play Croaker, since Alan Rickman died :.-(
Kate Beckinsale as The Lady and Rona Mitra as Soulcatcher.
Huh. Not much for the Lady to do in the lions share of Books 1 or 2. She plays a heavier role in 3.
If anything I’d think they’d want Soul Catcher as a leading lady for “The Black Company”. Darling or Lisa Bowalk for “Shadow’s Linger”, and Darling or the Lady for “The White Rose”.
I saw that an earlier poster wanted this for HBO for the sex and violence. The no reference to sex in book 1, maybe a few vague and un-detailed references in book 2 by a supporting character, and none in book 3. As for violence, the vast majority is done off screen. Cook is really more about dialog before and after the fact than by getting bogged down in the violence.
the casting needs to no name actors and actress’s and let them build the characters along the story line as cook wrote them
willem dafoe = limper
Any news on this? Haven’t heard anything since the original announcement..?
The fun part about casting this is that the series spans a long time span. Croaker is in his 20s(?) when the series begins, but ends up in his 40s/50s by the Books of the South. They might have to get a Young Croaker and an Old Croaker, unless they want to make a young actor look old for more than half the series. Lady, the Taken, One-Eye, and Goblin can probably be cast singularly.
Can’t believe I just found this, as a result of Port of Shadows coming out next month. Been reading Cook starting with TBC in the late 80s and have read almost all of his work including Garrett PI.
I love the idea of Dushku taking on a dual role of Soulcatcher / Lady. While Cook IMO wrote some strong female characters especially for the time, in today’s climate I’m sure they will want to even further enhance the role for females and obviously Dushku. (I think she’d make a great combo platter for S/L too so definitely not complaining from a casting standpoint. Her crazy side as Faith in BtVS portends well as possibly playing Soulcatcher.) The worry about shifting the focus from The Company is probably legit.
So we need an update! Is anything actually happening with this? I can’t find any indication online in published stuff that this is moving forward.
Sorry I do not see Dushku as The Lady–at least not in appearance. She might well be able to play the role (especially since it is minimal until the end of the first set of books).
TBH I have no clear vision of who matches up with most of the characters as far as actors goes. Better, I think, to go with unknowns–but they won’t (if the series gets made).
Robert Carlyle as Mercy. He dies early which I always wanted to see more of Mercy. He is my kind of character. He is described as small in stature with a booming voice. Robert Carlyle can do that in spades. From the first time I read about him, I always thought of Robert Carlyle for that role. Unfortunately Mercy gets killed off early.
Megan Fox would look good for the part of The Lady or Soulcatcher but I’m not sure she could play the role.
Robert Duvall for the Captain and Kiefer Sutherland for The Lieutenant.
my cast picks…Eliza Could pull it off if its not done badly..can’t be tv like or episodic…initially Soulcatcher is awesome and shes covered up so.. Tried to stay away from super big actors…but some slipped in anyways…also it would be hard to pull off, as its way more Fantastic than even GOT or LOTR….the fighting has to be awesome..but could be done ok..but this budget would have to be huge and they would have to kick some serious ass with first season..the first Trilogy and silver spike and first 2 books of south would be enough…even the first trilogy would be fine..maybe the silver spike a full on two part Movie…anyways have at it…
Captain: Stephen Lang
Lietenant: Neal Mc Donough
Silent: Vincent Cassel
One Eye Isaach De Bankolé
Goblin: Stephen Graham
Tom Tom: Leon Robinson
Croaker: Toby Stephens
Elmo: Michiel Huisman
Otto: Luke Arnold
Hagop: Zach McGowan
Mercy: Robert Carlisyle
Raven: Woodes Rogers
Darling: Dakota Fanning
Lady/Soucatcher: Eliza Dushku
Limper: Michael Wincott
Murgen: Tom Hopper
I’m honestly surprised to not see Gary Oldman on anyone’s list. I think he’d make an excellent old Croaker assuming this thing is still getting done.
Saw this in Wikipedia: During a screening of Mapplethorpe on February 14, 2019, Dushku told Us Weekly that she and Palandjian were expecting their first child.[65]
Does anyone at TOR know if this means the project is delayed or cancelled?
Still waiting on A Pitiless Rain.
So, IM Global Television, the company behind this appears to have folded up shop, making this a dead project. :P Figures.
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