Lev Grossman’s Arthurian Novel ‘The Bright Sword’ To Be Developed As Series By Lionsgate TV & 3 Arts
EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts Entertainment have preemptively acquired the rights to bestselling The Magicians author Lev Grossman’s new novel The Bright Sword for series development.
Set to be published July 16, The Bright Sword is described as “the first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium steeped in tradition, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings.”
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Search is underway for a showrunner who will executive produce the potential series alongside Grossman and 3 Arts Entertainment’s Erwin Stoff.
The Bright Sword follows a gifted young knight named Collum who arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. King Arthur is dead, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, and this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But first they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.
“My ambition with The Bright Sword was to completely reimagine the legend of King Arthur – to make it fresh, relevant and diverse, while at the same time hanging onto all the classic elements that fans like me love,” said Grossman. “I’ve worked with Erwin before so when he threw his hat in the ring, I knew he was exactly the right person to bring The Bright Sword to the screen. I’ve seen the incredible integrity, intelligence and effectiveness he brings to his work – he has that obsession with great storytelling and great characters that makes a project like this sing.”
Best known as the author of the bestselling Magicians trilogy – The Magicians, The Magician King and The Magician’s Land – which was adapted into the popular Syfy TV series, Grossman also has written children’s novels The Silver Arrow and its sequel The Golden Swift as well as the screenplay for the 2021 movie The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.
Grossman and Stoff previously collaborated on adapting The Silver Arrow. While that project didn’t sell, the two liked the experience working together.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Lev on this epic series,” said Stoff, Partner, 3 Arts Entertainment. “He has a proven talent for crafting compelling, imaginative stories that captivate audiences. With The Bright Sword already receiving incredible early reviews, we’re excited to bring this eagerly awaited novel to life on screen.”
Stoff is executive producing several series, including Lionsgate Television’s The Serpent Queen and The Hunting Wives for Starz as well as Blue Eye Samurai for Netflix and Doc for Fox. He also is producing the action-adventure film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die directed by Gore Verbinski.
3 Arts is majority owned by Lionsgate which in November increased its majority stake in the management and production company.
The Bright Sword joins other recently announced high-profile series in development at Lionsgate Television, including hostage drama The Envoy from The Rookie creator Alexi Hawley, a series based on the gambling scandal surrounding LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, and an English-language adaptation of Park Chan-wook’s film Oldboy.
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