FX's drama project The Strain has found its lead. The project, which comes from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Lost's Carlton Cuse will star Corey Stoll, whose most recent gig was playing the role of Peter Russo in Netflix's House of Cards. In The Strain, Stoll will play a doctor tasked with saving humanity against a viral outbreak that may lead to vampirism.
Del Toro will direct the pilot from a script co-written by himself and Chuck Hogan, based on a trilogy books the two men wrote. Cuse is listed as an executive producer and has been credited with helping develop the adaptation. Here's the description for the first book, courtesy of Amazon:
At New York’s JFK Airport, an arriving Boeing 777 taxiing along a runway suddenly stops dead. All the shades have been drawn, all communication channels have mysteriously gone quiet. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of a CDC rapid-response team investigating biological threats, boards the darkened plane—–and what he finds makes his blood run cold.A terrifying contagion has come to the unsuspecting city, an unstoppable plague that will spread like all-consuming wildfire—–lethal, merciless, hungry . . . vampiric. And in a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, an aged Holocaust survivor knows that the war he has been dreading his entire life is finally here.In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country. In two months . . . the world.
Deadline says Stoll has signed on to play the role of Dr. Goodweather. Fans of Law & Order: LA may recognize him for playing TJ Jaruszalski in the series. More recently, he starred alongside Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. The Strain already has a pilot order and from what Deadline says, the project is stocked with writers and a budget for creature creation. So we may be hearing news on whether or not this is going to series soon enough, especially now that the star is locked in.
TV doesn't exactly need another vampire drama, but it sounds like this one is approaching the concept from an outbreak perspective, which could make for a more original take on genre. And who knows? Maybe this one will give Ron Moore's Helix a run for its money in the outbreak-drama department… if such a department existed.
If you haven't read it, Amazon has the first book in the Strain trilogy for Kindle for the low price of $1.99.
