“Game of Thrones” creator George R.R. Martin may soon have a second television series with HBO. Cinemax, HBO’s sister company, has acquired the rights to Martin’s acclaimed 1988 werewolf novella, The Skin Trade. Kalinda Vasquez (“Prison Break“, “Once Upon A Time“) has been set to pen a pilot for the potential series. If it gets the greenlight, Vasquez will executive produce the show, alongside Martin himself. Given that Martin likes to write episodes of “Game of Thrones” from time to time, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he does the same for this one as well, as he’s tried to bring this tale to the small screen before. The Skin Trade was also turned into a comic miniseries back in 2013, though how much this might draw from that (if at all) is unclear at this time.
Centering on a private investigator named Randi Wade, the novella follows the investigation of a serial killer who keeps the skin of his victims. As Wade follows a trail to track said killer down, she is drawn into a dark, seedy underworld when her friend Willie Flambeaux is targeted, leading to the revelation of a shocking secret. While I have not yet read the novella, it sounds appropriately pulpy and noirish. Pair that with werewolves and you certainly have my attention.
Cinemax sounds like a great place for a series of this sort, especially given their current wonderful shows like “Banshee” and “The Knick“. Let’s just hope that the werewolves are something beyond just humans turning into regular wolves. I’ve never much been a fan of that type of werewolf and it makes it that much worse that this has been the direction taken by many popular properties lately, from Twilight to “True Blood” to “Hemlock Grove“. Perhaps it’s elitist, but I like my werewolves to be manbeast, be they bi-pedal or running around on all fours. Give me monsters, not canines.
