The MTV fantasy series Shannara, has found its lead in Poppy Drayton.
Most likely known for her roles in Downton Abbey or When Calls The Heart, Dateline has revealed that Poppy Drayton will be playing elven princess Amberle in MTV’s newest book to TV adaptation.
The character is said to be “agile, fit and capable, she has become the first female to be accepted as one of the Chosen, the special group of Elves responsible for the protection and care of the ancient Ellcrys tree. But unlike the rest of the Chosen, Amberle’s dangerous and heroic journey is just beginning.”
The premise of the story is that thousands of years after the destruction of civilization lives the Shannara family – whose descendants are empowered with ancient magic and whose adventures continuously reshape the future of the world.
Announced earlier this summer, MTV is pitching the show as its own version of Game of Thrones.
The source material for the series actually dates back to 1977 where it was originally written by Terry Brooks as a novel The Sword of Shannara.
From there over 25 additional books were published – causing some to estimate that this may be one of the most popular fantasy book series yet to be adapted.
Although Iron Man’s Jon Favreau was originally set to direct the pilot, Jonathan Liebesman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) was tapped as his replacement and will be directing the first two episodes of the show.
Favreau hasn’t stepped away completely though. He will stay attached to the project with an executive producer role. Original author Terry Brooks is to executive produce as well as Dan Farah.
Smallville writers Al Gough and Miles Millar will be penning the series.
The first season of the show however, will be based on the second novel of the series The Elfstones of Shannara.
The network described this as being, “a fan favorite which spent 16 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and is accredited with cementing the series place in the fantasy world.”