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Matt Reeves’ “The Passage” Gets Pilot Order at FOX
After years in development (originally slated to be a film), Fox has given a pilot order to “The Passage”, a drama series based on Justin Cronin’s fantasy book trilogy, Deadline reports. The high-profile project, which previously had a pilot production commitment, hails from Liz Heldens (“Friday Night Lights”), “Felicity” co-creator Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), Scott Free and 20th Century Fox TV.
Written by Heldens, “The Passage” begins as a character-driven government conspiracy thriller and morphs into a post-apocalyptic saga with vampires. The series spans over a century and focuses on a young girl named Amy who must save the human race.
Heldens executive produces alongside Reeves and Adam Kassan via 6th & Idaho and Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker via Scott Free Productions. Cronin is co-producer. 20th TV, where Heldens and Reeves’ 6th & Idaho are under overall deals, is the studio. Clayton Krueger will oversee for Scott Free and Rafi Crohn for 6th & Idaho.
“The Passage” trilogy by Cronin includes the best-selling eponymous first book, published in 2010 by Random House’s Ballantine Books, which was followed by “The Twelve” in 2012 and “The City of Mirrors” earlier this year.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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