‘Beacon 23’ TV Adaptation From Zak Penn Scores Series Order At Spectrum & AMC

Peter White
·3 min read
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Zak Penn’s television adaptation of Hugh Howey’s sci-fi novel Beacon 23 has finally received a series order via Spectrum Originals and AMC.

Penn has adapted the series, which was co-commissioned by Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks and will be co-produced by Platform One Media and Spectrum Originals.

It comes two years after the project first emerged at the Charter Communications service. Spectrum will have the first-run with a nine month window before it moves to AMC for its second window.

Set in the darkest recesses of space, the series is a suspenseful thriller and love story, where two people are trapped in a lighthouse at the end of the known universe.

Beacon 23 was originally written by Howey as five short stories that were put together as a novel and published in 2015.

2020 Spectrum Originals Pilots & Series Orders

Penn, who co-wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and has written on X-Men and The Avengers, serves as creator, executive producer, and showrunner, along with executive producers Ira Steven Behr, who was showrunner of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Katie O’Connell Marsh & Elisa Ellis for Platform One Media.

“Beacon 23 is a series in a class all its own – it’s a thriller, it’s a love story, it’s a character drama, it’s a sci-fi exploration of our own interconnectivity and disconnection, and it’s been beautifully adapted by the brilliant Zak Penn,” said Katherine Pope, Head of Spectrum Originals. “We have the perfect partners in Platform One Media and AMC to help Zak bring this series to life.”

“The notion of a lighthouse in outer space grabbed me the second I looked at the cover of Hugh Howey’s Beacon 23,” added Zak Penn. “Once I read all the other pages, I knew I had a story I could translate to another medium. For the past two years, with Hugh’s help and the generous indulgence of our wonderful partners at Spectrum Originals, Platform One Media and AMC, I’ve been able to assemble an incredible group of scientists, astronauts, and many of my ideal collaborators to help create an entire universe for this show. It’s a very exciting project for me, and I’m glad to be working again with Ira Behr, one of the best minds in television, and definitely the best beard.”

“Zak’s vision in adapting Hugh Howey’s incredible novel Beacon 23 is electrifying,” said Platform One Media Chairman and CEO Katie O’Connell Marsh. “We are so happy to be producing this series for Spectrum Originals and AMC.”

“Fantastic IP. The great Zak Penn creating and showrunning. Amazing partners in Spectrum Originals and Platform One Media. We can’t wait to bring this iconic and compelling series to life,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks Entertainment Group and co-president of AMC Studios.

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