Eliza Dushku sets up Black Company fantasy series

Eliza Dushku’s Boston Diva Productions and David Goyer’s Phantom Four are teaming with IM Global Television to develop a TV series based upon the Glen Cook fantasy book series The Black Company.

Diva has optioned the ten-book fantasy epic series and the upcoming instalment, Port of Shadows, which comes out next year.

Dushku (Bull and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) will tale the lead role of dark sorceress, The Lady and will also exec produce.

She said: “The Black Company is vast in scope yet remains fundamentally relevant through the morally ambiguous choices it presents at every turn. We are excited to bring Glen Cook’s classic story to life with Mark and David, luminaries in the cinematic pursuit of science fiction and epic fantasy.”

Batman scribe David Goyer will exec produce the series under his first-look with IM Global, the film and TV prodco backed by Tang Media Partners.

“Glen Cook’s books turn the traditional fantasy adventure tropes on their ear with wry, dimensional characters and a modern sensibility,” said IM Global drama boss Mark Stern said. “We’re excited to explore this intricate and exciting world for television.”

By a huge margin TV’s most popular fantasy series is HBO’s Game of Thrones, which is coming to an end. No broadcaster is yet attached to The Black Company.

The books follow the exploits of the Black Company, an elite mercenary unit that operates across a Tolkeinesque landscape. The group discovers the prophecy that the embodiment of good has been reborn, and must then re-examine their loyalties.