Get ready to head into The Expanse. Along with a few other harder-edge sci-fi projects coming down the pike, it sounds like Syfy has picked up another ambitious space-set series.

The network has placed a 10-episode straight-to-series order for The Expanse, based on James S.A. Corey’s sci-fi book Leviathan Wakes, after having won the project in a bidding war. The book is said to have put a new spin on the space opera, and is being described around the industry as “Game of Thrones in space.”



The script is being developed by Academy Award-nominated duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man) with the Alcon Television Group. The log line calls The Expanse a thriller set 200 years in the future, following 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.

In a statement via Entertainment Weekly, Syfy president Dave Howe noted that the new series fits into the network’s renewed strategy of developing high-concept sci-fi projects, with an eye toward space-set drama:

“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. The Expanse joins a killer line-up 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.”

With a straight-to-series order already placed, look for a lot more info on this project to start breaking in the coming months. What do you think of the pitch? Is this a show you’d check out?

(Via Entertainment Weekly)