Deadline has announced that Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions is developing Wild Seed for Amazon Prime Video, with Nnedi Okorafor and Wanuri Kahiu to co-write the series.
Wild Seed is the first book in Octavia E. Butler’s Patternist series, about two African immortals whose lives span ages. One is Doro, who kills and uses his abilities to breed people as livestock, the other is Anyanwu, a healer who demands that Doro come to terms with his cruelty.
The show will be penned by Okorafor and Kahiu, who is also set to direct. Kahiu’s most recent work (as both writer and director) includes the the film Rafiki, the very first Kenyan film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. JuVee Productions pursued the rights to Wild Seed for over two years before finding their writing team and getting the blessing of Butler’s estate to move forward. Here is a word from Kahiu and Okorafor on the project:
“We love Octavia Butler and her work and have for decades. But Wild Seed is our favorite. It’s expansive, disturbing, and unique, said Kahiu and Okafor. “Wild Seed stays with you. It’s a love/hate story of African immortals that connects people on the African continent to the Diaspora. It merges the mystical and the scientific seamlessly. You’re going to see shape-shifting, body jumping, telepaths, people born with the ability to defy the laws of physics, all in the context of our past, present and future world.”
The project had multiple bidders, but is set to air on Amazon Prime Video.
For more information, head over to Deadline.
I cannot think of a better person to helm this. This was the second series of Butler’s that I stumbled upon (after devouring Xenogenesis). I still have my DAW (I think?) 70’s print of Patternmaster somewhere. This is a great series and I’m really excited to see them do justice to it visually – especially with Okorafor involved. I haven’t read anything by Kahiu, but I plan to search them out now.
I’m really looking forward to this, although also flinching a little because the horror aspect of Wild Seed creeped me out to a degree that I can’t explain – I’ve read plenty of scary things, but just the idea of Doro is so simple and disturbing.
Minor nitpick: it’s the first book in the chronology of the series, but the fourth to be published.