George R. R. Martin’s sci-fi book Hunter’s Run is being produced as a feature film after Exile Content Studio recently purchased the rights. Martin wrote the novel in 2007 along with Daniel Abraham (who co-authored the sci-fi series The Expanse) and Gardner Dozois. He currently serves as the executive producer of the HBO fantasy series and Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon.
Martin spoke with Variety about the recent acquisition of the book’s rights by Exile Content Studio, a prolific producer of Spanish and English content. The studio was drawn to the novel due to the complex Latino protagonist and will now be able to work with Martin, who will serve as executive producer, and expressed great excitement at the prospect of finally being able to see this work be made into a film. Here is what he had to say:
I’m so pleased that after almost 16 years, ‘Hunter’s Run’ will be made into a film. I’m bursting with excitement for the rich sci-fi universe I helped create with my dear friends Daniel and Gardner to exist beyond the pages of our book.
Hunter’s Run Explained
The sci-fi novel tells the story of Ramón Espejo, an anti-hero who gets by on a human colony named São Paulo, a planet with similar living conditions to Earth. After a regrettable act of violence wherein he kills a diplomat, Ramón goes into hiding, where he encounters aliens who are also hiding from the humans on the colony. From here, he is sent on a journey of self-discovery and moral introspection as he goes on the run for the murder. The novel builds a rich sci-fi landscape in true George R. R. Martin fashion. Exile Content Studio noted the protagonist’s complexity and flaws, which encouraged them to develop a film adaptation.
The film is set to be directed by Mark Raso, who has previously helmed Kodachrome and will be co-written with his brother, Joseph. Martin and Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon collaborator Vince Gerardis will serve as executive producers. This will be the main selling point for many fans of Martin’s work, considering the high quality of both aforementioned HBO shows, a large part of which can be dedicated to his oversight. Martin’s involvement in House of the Dragon involves consultancy work with scripts and storylines. Game of Thrones saw Martin’s creative involvement decrease after season 4, which led to a noticeable drop in quality, proving that his input is hugely important for projects he’s involved in.
Hunter’s Run originally conceived its Latino protagonist due to the lack of Hispanic representation in science fiction at the time of writing: 1976. However, it would be 31 years before the book was completed, having started as Dozois’ idea. It was passed to Martin in 1981 after Dozois was unsure how to progress the story. Martin took up the challenge but returned the manuscript to Dozois after he couldn’t come up with an ending. Twenty years passed before Dozois, who also couldn’t conceive of a suitable conclusion, handed the manuscript to Abraham. The finished story was published as Shadow Twin in 2004, which Dozois then performed an extensive rewrite of, publishing Hunter’s Run in 2007. Martin’s adaptation will be faithful dependent on his creative involvement. Still, he acknowledges that some changes are necessary when translating the page to the screen.
Source: Variety