'Carnival Row' Season 1 Trailer: Cara Delevingne And Orlando Bloom Hunt A Faerie Killer

Created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham, whose 2005 Hollywood Black List script forms the basis for this eight-episode fantasy noir series, Carnival Row stars Delevingne as Vignette Stonemoss, a fairy who is forced to flee her homeland after the humans invade. Now a refugee along with the rest of her kind, called Fae, Vignette lives in squalor in the titular Carnival Row, where a series of grisly murders against the Fae have been taking place. Investigating these murders is Vignette's former lover, who she long thought to be dead, human detective Rycroft "Philo" Philostrate (Bloom).

Carnival Row has yet to debut its first season, but it has already been renewed for a second, marking Amazon Prime Video's shift to "event"-style series and big-budget fantasy shows that will seek to fill the gap left by Game of Thrones. Carnival Row even boasts a Game of Thrones connection with HBO series alum Indira Varma in the cast, alongside David Gyasi, Karla Crome, Tamzin Merchant, and Scott Reid. But judging by this trailer, which leans heavily into the star-crossed lovers story and teases a gruesome murder-mystery, Carnival Row doesn't resemble the HBO fantasy series so much as it resembles Penny Dreadful meets The Alienist. Which sounds intriguing, sure enough, but will probably garner more of a niche following than Game of Thrones.

Here is the synopsis for Carnival Row:

This growing population struggles to coexist with humans — forbidden to live, love, or fly with freedom. But even in darkness, hope lives, as a human detective, Rycroft Philostrate (Bloom), and a refugee faerie named Vignette Stonemoss (Delevingne) rekindle a dangerous affair despite an increasingly intolerant society. Vignette harbors a secret that endangers Philo's world during his most important case yet: a string of gruesome murders threatening the uneasy peace of the Row.

Carnival Row will premiere on Amazon Prime Video August 30, 2019.