Game of Thrones' George R.R. Martin wants his 1982 vampire novel, Fevre Dream, to be adapted by the Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro, with meetings about the project already taking place. While Martin is best known for writing the A Song of Ice and Fire novels that were adapted into HBO's Game of Thrones, Martin has written many other books, including Fevre Dream. The novel takes place on the Mississippi River in the 1800s, where steamboat captain Abner Marsh becomes business partners with the mysterious Joshua York, who, unbeknownst to him, is a vampire hunter.

In an interview with Winter Is Coming, Martin detailed how he has already had several meetings with del Toro and that they both want to adapt Fevre Dream. Martin explained that he has already written a screenplay for the adaptation and that he currently owns the rights to the project. He clarified that a Fevre Dream adaptation is still a long ways off, though, as del Toro is not able to fully commit to this project at this time. Nevertheless, he and Martin already have an actor cast as Abner. Read Martin's comments below:

I love Fevre Dream, and I’ve had numerous meetings. I’ve written a screenplay for Fevre Dream, we did develop it at one point. They didn’t make the screenplay of course, but the rights reverted to me, so I own it.

I’ve had meetings with Guillermo del Toro about Fevre Dream. He loves it, he says he wants to do it…but he doesn’t want to do it now. He always has this project first and that project first, and then this other project. But eventually he’ll do Fevre Dream, if he lives that long and I live that long and movies live that long, I don’t know… I think Fevre Dream would be great.

We wanna star Ron Perlman, we’ve even cast it! My friend Ron Perlman as Abner Marsh. Ron wants to do it. Everybody wants to do it, all we need is $100 million.

What This Means For Fevre Dream's Future

Progress Has Been Made, But The Project Still Has A Long Way To Go

Martin's comments indicate the significant interest that both he and del Toro have in a Fevre Dream adaptation based on their multiple meetings and casting Perlman in the lead role. Having the screenplay written, and the director and main actor committed to the project is already more progress than many book-to-screen adaptations ever make. Between his many ongoing and projects, including del Toro's Frankenstein film, he is unable to fully commit to Fevre Dream at this time, but is committed to eventually bringing the story to the screen.

A project with household names like Martin, del Toro, and Perlman should not have too many issues getting the necessary backing, although as Martin also mentions, nothing is for certain in the ever-changing landscape of the entertainment industry.

As promising as all these elements are, a Fevre Dream film is still years away from coming to fruition. Martin's remark about "need[ing] $100 million" is a reminder that the film still needs financial backing and a distributor. A project with household names like Martin, del Toro, and Perlman should not have too many issues getting the necessary backing, although as Martin also mentions, nothing is for certain in the ever-changing landscape of the entertainment industry.

Our Take On George R.R. Martin's Comments

The Fevre Dream Adaptation Is In Good Hands

Martin, del Toro, and Perlman sound like the perfect team to adapt Fevre Dream. The immense success of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon proves how well Martin's writing translates to the screen. Del Toro is an all-time great horror director and is no stranger to expertly adapting existing work as he did with Hellboy and Pinocchio. Perlman is known for playing often gruff characters, making him well-suited to playing Abner. Hopefully, all the logistics will align and the Fevre Dream adaptation will eventually become a reality.

Source: Winter Is Coming