Deadline reports that The CW is redeveloping The Notebook and Weaveworld TV series. The network originally developed both projects this season. While they did not move forward, the report indicates both will get new writers for the next cycle. The authors of the books that inspired each series (Nicholas Sparks and Clive Barker, respectively), will executive produce.
Set in North Carolina, The Notebook, which was also made into a feature film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams,features the post-World War II love story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson.
Weaveworld is a dark fantasy horror adventure story. Here is how Publishers Weekly describes it (via Amazon.com):
Barker envisions a race of fey folk known as the Seerkind who live undetected among mere mortals (whom they slyly refer to as the Cuckoos) until threatened by destruction. In response, the Seerkind weave themselves and their living places into a carpet, a magical riot of color and wonder known as the Fugue, which is then placed in the care of a mortal woman. Years pass, the woman grows old and dies, and her death signals to malign forces who wish to possess it that the Fugue is no longer protected. These are the demonic, immensely powerful woman known as Immacolata, her two ghostly, repulsive sisters, and her mortal cohort, the avaricious and power-hungry Shadwell. But the granddaughter of the Fugue’s former caretaker manages to get possession of the rug, and so begins a long pursuit. A wealth of characters walk (or fly or crawl) through these pages, and the plot is a busy one. At times the story has a rather mechanical feeling, lacks conviction and excitement. Barker has less real emotion here than in his first novel, and has for the most part abandoned his trademark grisly details. Nevertheless, the book is often diverting and quite inventive.
Deadline says:
For decades, Weaveworld had been considered too hard to adapt for TV because of a scope and setting that would require extensive special effects. There had been multiple attempts for a mini-series adaptation, including by Showtime. Meanwhile, special effects technology has evolved and become affordable for TV productions, as evidenced by shows like ABC’s Once Upon A Time, the CW’s Arrow and Flash and Fox’s Gotham, making a Weaveworld TV series a less daunting proposition.
Have you read either The Notebook or Weaveworld? How do you think they’ll play out as TV shows? Who would you like to see cast? Tell us.