Media Res has pre-empted the rights to “Luminous,” the debut sci-fi novel from Silvia Park, which the studio will adapt into a drama series.
“Luminous” tells the story of three estranged siblings living in a recently re-unified Korea, where sentient, sensitive, very-nearly-human robots are a part of daily life. One sibling working for the lowly robot crimes unit and is tasked with investigating the disappearance of an older woman’s service bot in Seoul. His investigation brings him to reconnect with his sister, a prominent robot designer working for a top manufacturing firm, who is, embarrassingly, dating one of her creations as well. The investigation sparks an epic journey through future Seoul, where the dark truths of this tech future are uncovered while the characters rediscover their humanity, even if not all of them are actually quite human.
Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer will executive produce the series for Media Res, and Park will produce. The novel is edited by Simon & Schuster’s Tim O’Connell.
Park was awarded the George R.R. Martin “Sense of Wonder” Fellowship to attend the Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writing. Her short fiction has been published in Black Warrior Review, Joyland, Tor and Best American Fantasy and Science Fiction.
“Luminous” is the newest book-to-television adaptation on Media Res’ production slate; the studio was recently behind “Pachinko,” an Apple TV+ drama series based on Min Jin Lee’s novel of the same name. Other projects in the works at Media Res include “The Morning Show” Season 3 and “Extrapolations,” both also at Apple, as well as Boots Riley’s “I’m a Virgo” for Amazon. They also produced HBO’s “Scenes from a Marriage.”
