Team behind The Expanse launches sci-fi prodco, agrees Amazon development deal

The Expanse began on cablenet Syfy before moving to Prime Video

The creative team behind sci-fi drama The Expanse has launched a new content company, Expanding Universe, and signed a development deal with Amazon MGM Studios.

The company is led by writer/producer Naren Shankar, who served as showrunner on Syfy and Prime Video’s The Expanse, director Breck Eisner and novelists and screenwriters Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Abraham and Franck publish under the pen name James SA Corey.

Expanding Universe is currently in development with Amazon MGM Studios on a series based on Abraham and Franck’s new sci-fi trilogy The Captive’s War. The first instalment in the trilogy, The Mercy of Gods, was published in August.

The story, set in a distant future of galactic empires and alien civilisations, follows a group of prisoners who rise from the ashes of catastrophe to destroy their conqueror’s society from within.

Shankar will serve as writer and showrunner, with Abraham and Franck also writing and Eisner directing. Amazon MGM Studios is producing. Expanding Universe said other projects would be announced soon.

The Expanse ran for six seasons from 2015 to 2022. The first three were on US cablenet Syfy before it was cancelled and then rescued by Prime Video, which commissioned three more seasons of the show before it ended in 2022.

“Expanding Universe is focused on developing sci-fi narratives with sweeping world-building and elevated storylines, geared toward multi-platform expressions in filmed entertainment, gaming and publishing. The Captive’s War is a perfect launchpad for our model,” said Eisner.

Shankar added that The Expanse was a “deep, immersive universe filled with great characters and intense, emotional stories – on a budget that wasn’t insane. And now we’re bringing that expertise to new storytelling universes and platforms.”

Franck and Abraham said the company has a track record of building IP across various mediums, including video games, books and series. That track record has meant the company has already attracted some interesting material, including other novelists’ work and some legacy IP.

“In success, we have the opportunity to bring a new generation of science fiction to the screen,” said Abraham.