George R.R. Martin’s Skin Trade Optioned By Cinemax

Skin Trade, the World Fantasy Award-winning werewolf noir novella by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, has been picked by Cinemax.

Martin revealed on his “Not A Blog” that Cinemax, sister network to Game of Thrones‘ home HBO, has ordered a pilot script:

I am very excited to announce the Cinemax (HBO’s sister company) has optioned the television rights to “The Skin Trade,” the offbeat “werewolf noir” novella I penned back in the late 80s. The deal is closed, and Cinemax has ordered the pilot script. This being Hollywood, of course, you never know where things will end… but if they like the script, we’ll shoot a pilot, and if they like that, hey, who knows, maybe we’ll get a series on the air.

The novella originally appeared in the anthology Night Visions 5, and has been reprinted several times, most recently in an illustrated edition. The story was also adapted into a comic book miniseries by Avatar Press, with Daniel Abraham penning the adaptation and Mike Wolfer on art.

The pilot is being written by Kalinda Vasquez, who has written for Prison Break and Once Upon a Time. So rest at ease Game of Thrones fans, Martin won’t be taking any time away from The Winds of Winter for this new project.