Prime Video is entering another fantasy realm.
The Amazon-owned streamer has greenlit a series based on Julie C. Dao’s Rise of the Empress novels. The drama — which counts Viola Davis, Forest Whitaker and Gemma Chan among its executive producers — is set in a “fantastical ancient Asian empire,” per the show’s logline, and centers on a peasant girl named Xifeng who, backed by a vengeful sorceress, vies to win the heart of the heir to the throne.
Crystal Liu (American Horror Story) and James Wong (The X-Files, AHS) will serve as co-showrunners on the series, which comes from Amazon MGM Studios, Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions and Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi’s Significant Productions.
“This story, led by an incredible female heroine, is an inspiring tale of strength and resilience,” said Nick Pepper, head of wholly owned U.S. SVOD TV development and series at Amazon MGM Studios. “Crystal, alongside the teams at JuVee and Significant and Gemma, have done an amazing job capturing the magic created by Julie, and we are thrilled to welcome James to help bring this brilliant project to life in a way that will resonate with our global Prime Video customers.”
Said Liu, “I’m honored and so excited for this opportunity to bring Julie C. Dao’s extraordinary books to the screen — a sumptuous, spellbinding tale of intrigue, with a subversive heroine for the ages. Feeling beyond grateful to be embarking on this journey with the legendary James Wong and our spectacular producers JuVee, Significant, and Gemma Chan. And I couldn’t ask for a more perfect partner than Amazon to build this epic, daring new world fueled by the wondrous, twisted things we do for love.”
Rise of the Empress will join a roster of fantasy series at Prime Video that also includes The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time.
Liu and Wong will executive produce the series with Davis, Tennon and head of television Andrew Wang for JuVee Productions; Whitaker and Bongiovi for Significant Productions; and Chan. Author Dao is a co-EP.
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