Amazon Has Ordered Five New Pilots, Including The Guillermo Del Toro-Produced 'Carnival Row'

Director Guillermo del Toro has spent a few years trying to get Killing on Carnival Row made. Written by Pacific Rim scribe Travis Beacham, the dark fantasy tale once had del Toro set to direct and Hugh Jackman attached to star. That iteration of the project fell apart, but over a year ago, the rights reverted to Beacham, and he and del Toro decided to develop the story into an Amazon series with the help of Legendary Pictures. Amazon has ordered the pilot for the show, now titled Carnival Row, in addition to a few other titles.

Below, learn more about the five Amazon pilots.

Deadline broke the story regarding these five projects. Let's start with Carnival Row – a pilot del Toro will direct. Here's the plot summary we reported back in 2011:

The story takes place in a city named the Burgue, which exists in the future, but is a bit like 18th century London. Humans live side-by-side with other creatures, and a killer stalks the streets of a neighborhood called Carnival Row inhabited by faeries working in brothels. The murderer is killing faeries, cutting off their wings and leaving telltale puncture wounds in their necks.

The story may have evolved over the years, as it's now a series. It was previously reported del Toro would co-write the pilot with Beacham and René Echevarria (The 4400), but now Deadline says Echevarria alone wrote the first episode. Gary Ungar, who works with del Toro on The Strain, will produce Carnival Row.

Strange New Things is another pilot ordered that has another notable director involved. Filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Black Sea) is attached to the adaptation of Michel Faber's The Book of Strange New Things, a science-fiction love story about an English pastor who travels into deep space. Musician Brian Eno will write the score.

Amazon has also ordered a pilot from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, who, at the moment, is preoccupied with the Gilmore Girls revival for Netflix. Her next potential show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, follows a 1950s homemaker who becomes one of the first female standup comedians.

Next up is another period piece, Tropicana, written and executive produced by Rachel Abramowitz (Klondike) and one of the screenwriters behind Sam Raimi's Darkman, Josh Goldin. The show focuses on a Tropicana Night Club in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Deadline speculates the series involves "the mob, Batista loyalists, Castro revolutionaries and the American CIA."

Last but not least is The Legend of Master Legend, based on Joshua Bearman's 2008 Rolling Stone article of the same name. The article is about Master Legend, a real-life superhero who drives "a 1986 Nissan pickup with a missing rear window and 'ML' spray-painted on the hood." Transparent's Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster are executive producing the pilot, which they co-wrote.