Syfy is adapting George R.R. Martin’s novella Nightflyers for TV

Is George R.R. Martin in demand right now or what? Game of Thrones is the most popular thing on TV, The Winds of Winter may be the most eagerly anticipated book in the world, he’s involved in the development of five different Game of Thrones spinoffs, he’s editing the Wild Cards series (which itself is being made into a TV show), and he’s putting together a book of Targaryen history called Fire and Blood. He and his work are red-hot commodities.

In that vein, The Hollywood Reporter has it that the Syfy network is adapting Martin’s novella NightFlyers, published in 1980, for the small screen. Before we go any further, note that Martin won’t be working personally on this show. So far as TV projects go, he has an exclusive deal with HBO, meaning he’s not directly involved with the Wild Card TV series, either. Still, it goes to show you how eager producers are to snap up his properties.

Nightflyers is about a crew of explorers aboard the most advanced spaceship in existence: the Nightflyer. Earth is dying, and the Nightflyers are trying to intercept an alien spaceship that may be able to help humanity survive. Unfortunately, they discover that the alien craft may not have their best interests at heart.

THR reposted part of the first paragraph of Nightflyers, which shows off Martin’s penchant for world-building:

"When Jesus of Nazareth hung dying on his cross, the volcryn passed within a light-year of his agony, headed outward. When the Fire Wars raged on Earth, the volcryn sailed near Old Poseidon, where the seas were still unnamed and unfinished. By the time the stardrive had transformed the Federated Nations of Earth into the Federal Empire, the volcryn had moved into the fringes of Hrangan space. The Hrangans never knew it. Like us they were children of the small bright worlds that circled their scattered suns, with little interest and less knowledge of the things that moved in the gulfs between."

Nightflyers was also turned into a little-remembered 1987 sci-fi flick of the same name. Check out the trailer:

Robert Jaffe, who wrote the movie, will be a producer on the show. Jeff Buhler will write the script for the TV show.