The Bright Sword: Arthurian TV Series From The Magicians Author In the Works

The Bright Sword novel is set to be released on July 16th.

By Nicole Drum

The Magicians author Lev Grossman's latest novel is already headed to television. According to Deadline, Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts Entertainment have acquired the rights to The Bright Sword, Grossman's new novel set to be published on July 16th. The series will be produced by Grossman and Erwin Stoff. A showrunner and executive producer has not yet been found. The new novel is described as "the first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium steeped in tradition, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings."

"My ambition with The Bright Sword was to completely reimagine the legend of King Arthur — to make it fresh, relevant and diverse, while at the same time hanging onto all the classic elements that fans like me love," Grossman said. "I've worked with Erwin before so when he threw his hat in the ring, I knew he was exactly the right person to bring The Bright Sword to the screen. I've seen the incredible integrity, intelligence, and effectiveness he brings to his work — he has that obsession with great storytelling and great characters that make a project like this sing."

According to the book's synopsis, The Bright Sword follows "a gifted young knight named Collum" who "arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find that he's too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive. They aren't the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They're the oddballs of the Round Table, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur's fool, who was knighted as a joke. They're joined by Nimue, who was Merlin's apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild a Camelot in a world that has lost its balance."

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"We're thrilled to collaborate with Lev on this epic series," said Stoff, Partner, 3 Arts Entertainment. "He has a proven talent for crafting compelling, imaginative stories that captivate audiences. With The Bright Sword already receiving incredible early reviews, we're excited to bring this eagerly awaited novel to life on screen."

Grossman is best known for his Magicians trilogy — The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician's Land. That series was adapted by SYFY into the television series The Magicians which ran for five seasons on the network, ending in 2020. That series followed a Quentin Coldwater, a student who enrolls at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy to train as a magician only to discover that the magical world from his favorite childhood books, Fillory, is actually real — and poses a threat to reality.

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