So, Deadline got to break some very cool news.
That news is a many-headed hydra of awesomeness, and consists of three beats: first, QC has partnered with Lionsgate Television for the project; second, Glen Mazzara (The Shield! The Walking Dead! Dark Tower TV show that should’ve been picked up but wasn’t!) is on as showrunner; and third, the book is getting a sequel in 2022!
Obviously, I’m geeked as hell about this — Glen is amazing, honestly, and gets the book and has dug down to its marrow for what the show could look like. Lionsgate is the perfect choice, too, and are committed to the show in a big way, along with QC. And the sequel…
Well, listen, I always said this is a story I’d continue if it felt right, and if sales bore that out. Meaning, okay, yes, I wrote the book to be a contained story, start-to-finish, but it was one that could conceivably have a robust “second chapter” if I found the right angle, the right reason, the right throughline. Sales, as it turned out, were good — the book was a national bestseller, and has outsold everything else I’ve written with the exception of the first couple Star Wars books. Then — literally on the plane ride out to begin my book tour for it last July! — the entire story for the sequel came to me wholesale, and that was when I knew there was something there, and more tale to tell.
(Sidenote, the sequel is tentatively titled Wayward.)
On the TV side of things, the most vital of caveats applies: it doesn’t mean it’s coming to your TV anytime soon. The work now is to shop it around to to find the right network/streaming partner for it to see if they’ll bring Glen and Lionsgate’s vision of the book to light. I’m hopeful, because hot damn, what a team. I knew we were in good hands with QC and this only sweetens the sauce. But it’s by no means a guarantee. Things happen! And the exact future of TV and film production remains unsettled. But hope is on the wind, like a white fungus that will colonize your face and brain!
Uh. Ahem.
Anyway. Them’s the news! News I’ve been sitting on, in part, for almost a year, now.
More news to come, and will share when I can.
Meanwhile, I guess I should write that sequel now, huh?
Don’t forget, you can nab Wanderers if you haven’t read it yet:
Bookshop.org, Indiebound, Amazon, and more.
M.A. Kropp says:
Oh, good news, indeed! I will keep my fingers crossed for the TV adaptation, and await the sequel with anticipation!
August 25, 2020 — 3:07 PM
Linda Travers says:
Yessss! Best F’n news ever!
August 25, 2020 — 3:17 PM
TR says:
Congratulations!!! That’s wonderful news.
August 25, 2020 — 3:19 PM
Erin says:
Yay! Congratulations!
August 25, 2020 — 3:20 PM
tcinla says:
Congratulations. It’s always amazing when that thing you were doing three years ago turns out to be dead center to the Zeitgeist when it becomes public. And you had no clue while you were banging away. That’s happened to me just now too, with the “accidental” book I tapped into two years ago being (according to a good reviewer) “just the thing to be reading at this time”. and how that happened? I’m sure I’m as clueless as you – but hot damn! It’s nice when the quarter comes up heads when that’s what you called it, ain’t it?
I’ll be looking forward to seeing it.
August 25, 2020 — 3:23 PM
Lucie Pagé says:
WOOOOO! Insert champagne bottle popping emoji here! Congratulations, Chuck. Well done.
August 25, 2020 — 3:35 PM
David Simerly says:
Congratulations Chuck! I’m so pleased. I was hoping something like this would come out of Wanderers (Movie/TV adaptation AND a sequel). I’m looking forward to both. Just avoid the trolls—you definitely don’t need the distraction now.
August 25, 2020 — 3:41 PM
Dustin says:
Whoa! Excellent and most exciting news, Chuck! Congratulations big-big! I think it’s great that while Wanderers is a standalone through and through, there’s also an opportunity to expand upon it. The fact that you have an entire sequel in mind is AWESOME!!!
August 25, 2020 — 4:10 PM
Deborah Genovesi says:
Fantastic news! Thoroughly enjoyed the book and am sure any future screen adaptation and sequel will be aces! Go!
August 25, 2020 — 4:16 PM
Rhonda Hopkins says:
So awesome! Congratulations!
August 25, 2020 — 6:11 PM
JD says:
Congrats, Chuck! Can’t wait to read the sequel! Wanderers my favorite of your books.
August 25, 2020 — 6:16 PM
dadekian says:
Congratulations! This is a trifecta of fantastic (and hopefully you’re not so apocalyptically accurate with your prescience) news.
August 25, 2020 — 8:17 PM
Nick says:
Is it a good thing when one’s heart stops working for an extended period of time? Wow! I’m so thrilled if this whole thing pans out. Congrats, Chuck! Finally, 2020 allows good news to sip through.
August 26, 2020 — 8:44 AM
theycallmetater says:
Yay! I hope this TV thing happens. So exciting. Also looking forward to the eventual sequel.
August 26, 2020 — 9:06 AM
mattw says:
Chuck, that’s excellent news! Congratulations!!! I can’t say I’m not a little concerned though, because…checks notes…the world totally went to shit in a way that you had eerily predicted in Wanderers. Maybe your crystal ball can be more sunshine and puppies the second time around?
August 26, 2020 — 10:16 AM
Yoshi says:
Don’t see it myself. Have you read Fever by Deon Meyer?
August 26, 2020 — 8:34 PM
Sandra Whitteker says:
I’m so happy for you! Now we can have fun guessing which actors will play which roles…
August 26, 2020 — 7:44 PM
Heather Grieser says:
That’s FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!! I know that so much can go wrong along the way in actually getting it to screen, but hot damn I hope it makes it! Can’t wait to read the sequel, too.
August 26, 2020 — 9:28 PM
FM says:
How exciting! I loved the book and was completely satisfied by the ending . . . but the fact that you have thought of a way to continue the story is wonderful news. I hope whatever comes of the Lionsgate deal is worthy of the book. For me, the whole book unspooled in my head like a movie anyway, so I feel as though I’ll be able to enjoy it all over again. I felt that way with “The Expanse”: I loved the books and while the series changed the stories somewhat, I found them equally enjoyable. Looking forward to hearing what happens next. Congratulations!
August 27, 2020 — 11:32 AM
Suzanne Lucero says:
I’m a bit late to the party, as it were, but congratulations on this announcement. I know there’s no guarantee that anything will actually come of the talks, but I think, what with the present conditions in the world, there are great prospects here. Just don’t forget about us (the little folk who can’t seem to get their ideas straight and written down properly to create our own stories) when your at the Emmys, ok? People like you either give us hope for our future or send us over the edge of despair.. There really doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. Still, you’ve put in the work over the years; now it’s time to reap the rewards. Congrats again.
August 28, 2020 — 8:24 AM
Kindly Wizard says:
The TV adaptation needs to include a cover of Larry Underwood’s “Baby, Can You Dig Your Man” as an Easter egg, just sayin’
August 30, 2020 — 3:09 AM
NIV says:
I just finished listening to Wanderers for the 2nd time today, and I’m so excited that my recollection of a potential sequel was correct! I’d forgotten the TV bits, but those are VERY exciting as well. I know this is old news at this point, but I’m still excited on your behalf.
March 22, 2021 — 2:08 PM