20 Fantasy Adaptations That Could Be Bigger than Game of Thrones
By Jenn Reid
Fables. Image via Vertigo Comics
5. Fables
The Book: Fables by Bill Willingham
The Story: The graphic novel series from Vertigo brings characters from fairy tales and folklore into the real world. The characters have created a new town for themselves in NYC called Fabletown, and try to blend in with regular society. There are different figures from European, American and Arabian folktales, and with elements of noir, crime thriller, romance and comedy.
The series ran for 150 issues, or 22 trade paperbacks.
The Adaptation: Does Fables sound somewhat familiar? Does it maybe sound like some TV shows currently airing? Well, that wouldn’t be surprising. NBC developed a script based on the books, before scrapping it for Grimm, a police procedural set in a world where fairy tales are real. Then ABC picked it up before making Once Upon A Time instead, where fairy tale characters live in our real world. Since so many networks like the idea, why not make the real show?
Fables would be best suited as an anthology series: the first set of books was a murder mystery, the next set was a conspiracy, etc. A network like FX loves an anthology series, from Ryan Murphy’s assorted offerings (American Horror Story, Feud, American Crime Story) to shows like Fargo. Each season would have its own look or feel, and certain characters can cross over from one season to the next.
Honestly, everyone loves “fairy tales reimagined as _____.” Fables: The Anthology is practically easy money at this point.