Syfy continues to make its slate more expansive, greenlighting a straight to series order of space opera, The Expanse, from Alco Television Group.
Set 200 years from now, The Expanse follows the case of a missing young woman who brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain together in a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history. The initial order is for 10 episodes.
Academy Award-nominated screenwriting duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, Iron Man) wrote the pilot, and will serve as writers, as well as executive producers.
"The Expanse is epic in scale and scope and promises to be Syfy's most ambitious series to date. Bringing this coveted book franchise to television with our partners at Alcon and the Sean Daniel Company is a giant win for Syfy, reinforcing our overall strategy to produce bold, provocative and compelling sci-fi fantasy stories,” said syfy president Dave Howe, in announcing the pick-up. '"The Expanse joins a killer line-p of high-concept, high-quality series, along with recently announced original projects Ascension,12 Monkeys,’ the renewal of Helix,and the soon to premiere Dominion.
The Expanse marks the first series for Alcon Television Group, a division of Alcon Entertainment, which is named after a mythological archer and ally of Hercules. The company has financed, and/or co-financed/produced over 19 films, including My Dog Skip, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Insomnia, and The Blind Side.
