Terry George is to write, direct and executive produce a new Vikings-based pilot for a series created by Oscar-winner Charlize Theron.
The drama series, titled ‘The Clan’, will be set in Scotland and will track the Norsemen’s battles with the Scottish clans in the Highlands.
Theron has sold the series to ABC through her ABC Studios-based production company Denver & Delilah Productions. It is the third project Theron has developed in recent months, having already attached herself to the History Channel mini-series ‘Hatfields & McCoys’, and NBC family drama ‘Holiday’, which she will executive produce, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Theron will also executive produce ‘The Clan’ alongside George.
The South African-born actress has a number of producing credits under her belt, having produced ‘Young Adult’, ‘Sleepwalking’, and ‘Monster’, for which she also won an Oscar for Best Actress in 2004. She recently starred in Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’ with Irish actor Michael Fassbender, and ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ with Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth.
George, an Oscar-winner himself, having scooped the prize for his short film ‘The Shore’ at the 2012 ceremony, is known in Hollywood for writing and directing the Oscar-nominated feature ‘Hotel Rwanda’, as well as co-writing ‘Some Mother’s Son’ and ‘The Boxer’ with Oscar-nominee Jim Sheridan.
He recently participated in an In Conversation with event organised by the Irish Film & Television Academy as part of the Belfast Media Festival.
It is unlikely ‘The Clan’ will be a direct rival to The History Channel’s upcoming mini-series ‘Vikings’, as this is due to air in early 2013. Gabriel Byrne is currently shooting this mini-series in Ireland with Australian actor Travis Fimmel.
ABC currently has another Irish-attached pilot in development, a female drama called ‘Vein’, which has been co-written by Irish actress Victoria Smurfit and ‘Make It or Break It’ creator Holly Sorenson.
