Last night during the VMA’s (which is apparently still a thing), MTV released the first official trailer for its upcoming fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles. Based on the beloved book series by author Terry Brooks, the TV show takes place thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization and revolves around an Elven Princess, a half-human half-elf, and a human who embark on a quest to prevent a demon army from destroying their world. While adapting any beloved book series is tough, Brooks was involved with MTV’s adaptation throughout the process to ensure that any changes were in line with his original vision.
Shot in New Zealand, the show mostly covers material from the second book in Brooks’ series, The Elfstones of Shannara and boasts Jon Favreau as an executive producer. Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) directed the pilot, and as someone wholly unfamiliar with the source material I have to say I’m quite impressed by this trailer. The scope and effects are above and beyond anything MTV’s done recently in the original series realm, and there’s a promisingly dark tone permeating throughout. Every network’s been chasing their own Game of Thrones for years now, but it feels like Shannara Chronicles has the potential to be a surprise breakout hit from MTV.
Watch the official trailer below, via MTV, and click here for 15 things we learned about the TV series at Comic-Con. The Shannara Chronicles premieres in January 2016 and stars Poppy Drayton, Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero, Manu Bennett and John Rhys-Davies.
Here’s the official synopsis for The Shannara Chronicles:
Coming to MTV in January 2016, ‘The Shannara Chronicles’ is a new TV series based on the best-selling fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. Set thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization, the story follows an Elven Princess, Amberle, a half-human half-elf, Wil, and a human, Eretria, as they embark on a quest to stop a Demon army from destroying the Four Lands.
