One of the many projects Guillermo del Toro has moving forward is a TV version of The Strain, based on the trilogy of vampire novels he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan. FX has ordered a pilot episode and we have news of three more additions to the cast.
As previously reported, Corey Stoll (House of Cards) has been cast in the lead role, and Kevin Durand (Resident Evil: Retribution) will also be joining him. Stoll will be playing Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Centers for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City, while Durand is taking on the part of "a second-generation Ukranian-American, a once-solitary rat exterminator who eagerly joins the war against vampires who have invaded New York."
Joining them will be Jonathan Hyde (Titanic), Richard Sammel (Inglourious Basterds), and Mia Maestro (Alias). According to THR, Jonathan Hyde will play Eldritch Palmer, "an elderly tycoon who's the third-richest man in the world who has been an invalid since childhood. Though his life-long fight against his frail body, he's developed a relentless drive to attain immortality by any means necessary."
Richard Sammel will play Thomas Eichorst, "a mysterious figure from Professor Abraham Setrakian's past whose re-emergence in New York is not a coincidence." Lastly, Mia Maestro will play Dr. Nora Martinez, "a brilliant biochemist who serves as Eph's No. 2. They finish each other's sentences and ultimately stumble into an affair."
Lost's Carlton Cuse is on board as executive producer and showrunner, and is also currently involved with Bates Motel. Guillermo del Toro will direct the pilot episode and has co-written the script with Chuck Hogan. For those that have not read The Strain, here is the official synopsis:
"A plane lands at JFK and mysteriously 'goes dark', stopping in the middle of the runway for no apparent reason, all lights off, all doors sealed. The pilots cannot be raised. When the hatch above the wing finally clicks open, it soon becomes clear that everyone on board is dead -- although there is no sign of any trauma or struggle. Ephraim Goodweather and his team from the Center for Disease Control must work quickly to establish the cause of this strange occurrence before panic spreads. The first thing they discover is that four of the victims are actually still alive. But that's the only good news. And when all two hundred corpses disappear from various morgues around the city on the same night, things very rapidly get worse. Soon Eph and a small band of helpers will find themselves battling to protect not only their own loved ones, but the whole city, against an ancient threat to humanity."
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