‘TUDORS’ & ‘CAMELOT’ Creators Team Up For MGM’s ‘VIKING’ Project!
Recovering studio MGM has decided to hire the creative talents of Michael Hirst and Morgan O’Sullivan, creators behind ‘The Tudors‘ and ‘Camelot‘, for ‘Vikings‘ (title TBC) – a drama series about the famous Scandinavian warriors, according to Deadline.com!
The series looks set to begin production on a 10-episode first season next year at O’Sullivan‘s soon-to-open studio facility in Ireland. It will be an Ireland-Canada co-production, similar to O’Sullivan‘s production model for ‘The Tudors‘ and ‘Camelot‘. MGM, which has been involved in the development of the project, will finance 100% of the cost outside of Canada and Ireland and will distribute the series in the U.S. and internationally. This is a big thing for the studio, especially after only just climbing out of its financial troubles.
The project was brought to fruition after O’Sullivan got in touch with frequent collaborator and avid historian Hirst, who turned out to be a Viking buff and had written an unproduced feature script about the famous barbarians years ago. Hirst is working on a bible for the series and is expected to write most or all episodes.
The series will chronicle the Vikings’ exploits as warriors, explorers, builders, merchants, pirates and mercenaries through what is known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian, British and Irish history from the late-8th to the mid-11th century. It will focus on Ragnar Lodbrok, one of the most popular Viking heroes, a great commander who briefly ruled Denmark and Sweden and was linked to two shieldmaidens and a queen.
