First War of the Worlds TV Series Images Debut

War of the Worlds is officially headed into a whole new era, and we have a first look at what that will look like. Earlier this week, the first photos from the upcoming television adaptation were officially released (via Variety). The first photo shows series stars Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern crowding in an elevator, while others show French military and citizens sheltering in the London subway.

For the uninitiated, War of the Worlds was originally published by H.G. Wells in the late 1890s, and is regarded by many to be one of the best sci-fi stories ever told. The tale has garnered a slew of adaptations over the years, most notably in Orson Welles’ controversial radio drama in the 1930s. The most recent adaptation came in 2005, with a film directed by Steven Spielberg.

This new adaptation of War of the Worlds will be set in modern-day Europe, and is expected to take a unique approach on the iconic story.

“In literature, dystopian novels and science fiction has been a safe place for us to deal with collective terror,” Byrne said. “But what Wells also understood is that the greatest threat is not from out there, but from inside ourselves, and we see in this new telling of the story a warning that it is only our own humanity that will save us.”

War of the Worlds will also feature appearances from Léa Drucker, Natasha Little, Daisy Edgar Jones, Stéphane Caillard, Adel Bencherif, and Guillaume Gouix. Gilles Coulier (The Natives) and Richard Clark (Versailles) will each be directing four episodes of the series.

War of the Worlds hails from Misfits creator Howard Overman. The series is being developed for TV by Canal Plus, Fox Networks Group Europe and Africa, and AGC Television. It is currently seeking networks for distribution in the U.S. and Europe.

This actually isn’t the only War of the Worlds adaptation that’s gearing up to hit the small screen, with a three-part BBC miniseries set in Edwardian England set to debut later this year. That series will star Eleanor Tomlinson, Rafe Spall, Rupert Graves, and Robert Carlyle.

What do you think of the first look at War of the Worlds? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!