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Posted in: Preview, TV | Tagged: dark fantasy, film adaptation, kane, Karl Edward Wagner, tv adaptation
Kane: Karl Edward Wagner Fantasy Hero Set for TV Series/Film Adapts
Kane, fantasy author and editor Karl Edward Wagner's epic fantasy hero will be getting a TV series or movie from producers Roy Lee, Andrew Trapani, and Steven Schneider. The character, a mysterious warrior, first appeared in 1973 and featured in 20 short stories and three novels. The Kane stories were published throughout the 1970s and early 1980s and were mainstays in the Science Fiction and Fantasy sections of every bookstore. They center on a seemingly-immortal antihero named simply Kane who is equal parts warrior, sorcerer, marauder, and conqueror. In other words, the overpowered hero of every geek's fantasy.
Kane was influenced by Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, but the moral ambiguities of the character and stories might have been influenced by Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniborne stories. Wagner had been an editor and publisher of Conan collections, so he knew the fantasy genre inside-out by the time he wrote his own stories. He also drew on horror elements for the Kane stories to give them a more baroque feel. The world Kane moved through was steeped in ancient history, mysteries, and endless conflict, with the long-lived antihero living through, often loving and killing through war, romance and tragedy. By the 1980s, the Kane books had sold 4 million copies and Frank Frazetta even painted many of the covers, which are amongst his signature artworks. Wagner passed away at the age of 48 in 1994, and the books fell somewhat out of fashion, though they're still fondly remembered by fantasy fans.
Lee, Trapani, and Schneider had been after the rights for a long time and will produce the adaptation with Keith Previte and Kevin Elam of the Karl Edward Wagner estate.
Lee, Trapani, and Schneider currently have a full slate developing The Hawkline Monster at New Regency with Yorgos Lanthimos directing. Lee is in production on the new adaptation of Stephen King's adaptation Salem's Lot and has Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling in post. Trapani is a co-producer on Hulu's L.A. Lakers docu-series Winning Time, while Schneider most recently produced Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin.
The Kane books are currently available digitally.
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