Issa Rae And JJ Abrams To Executive Produce HBO's 'Fledgling' Adaptation, Continuing The Season Of Octavia Butler
It's the season of Octavia Butler, folks. According to new reports, her novel, Fledgling, is getting a television adaptation at HBO. The late author's work seems to have caught the attention of producers, because there are three separate projects in the works based on her novels.
Deadline reports that WarnerMedia premium network HBO has ordered a pilot script for an adaptation of Fledgling from Lovecraft Country writers and co-executive producers Sonya Winton-Odamtten and Jonathan I. Kidd. The pair are writing the adaptation, with Issa Rae and J.J. Abrams among the executive producers.
Fledgling is a sci-fi vampire novel about a world where vampires and humans co-exist in symbiotic relationships. The main character, Shori, appears to be a child but has no memory of where she came from when she wakes in a cave one day. Her need to feed becomes overwhelming, and she soon discovers that she is actually a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Shori must then try to figure out everything she can about her life before the amnesia in order to save herself and those she loves most.Fledgling was published a year before Butler's death in 2006. The Octavia E. Butler Papers at the Huntington Library in California include multiple drafts of sequels to the novel, following Shori and her family after the events in Fledgling. That means future seasons of a series could have some source material to work from.
Turning to Butler's Work
Announcements for two other adaptations of Butler's work were announced in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, we learned that Zola director Janicza Bravo will direct a television series based on Butler's time-travel novel Kindred for FX. Then, earlier this week, Time director Garrett Bradley is set to direct a movie version of Butler's Parable of the Sower for A24. Butler's work has always been held in high regard by science fiction fans and literature scholars, but it's great to see her work being adapted for new audiences to discover.
Butler was a vital presence in the literary world, writing Afrofuturist fantasy and science fiction that forced readers to question societal norms. Despite the fact that her work is now decades-old, it still feels too prescient. Butler won the Hugo and Nebula awards multiple times for her work, and NASA recently named the landing site for its Perserverance Mars rover in her honor.
There's no word yet on directors or cast for the series, but we'll be sure to keep you updated. For now, head to your local library or independent bookstore and get a copy of Fledgling, because reading is good for you.