AMC, the cable network that gave us Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, has optioned Mary Doria Russell’s wonderful novel The Sparrow for a possible series. Longtime readers of this blog have probably seen previous entries in which I raved about this book. It’s a beautifully written story about first contact, faith, and the terrible consequences of good intentions. The Sparrow covers some bleak material which AMC is well-suited to bring to screen. People already associate the network with intelligent fare that isn’t afraid to go to some dark places and The Sparrow could nicely round out AMC’s genre offerings.
Like any option deal, it could amount to nothing. But it’s encouraging to see that television producers are still open to developing intelligent science fiction.
