Tandem Continues with Ken Follett Franchise

MUNICH/LOS ANGELES: Tandem Communications has optioned World Without End, the sequel to Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, to be made into a TV series.

Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free Television will be producing the new series with Tandem. The Pillars of the Earth writer John Pielmeier returns to adapt World Without End, which is being envisioned as an eight-hour series. Starz is co-funding the writing portion of the project with Tandem, and will likely serve as the U.S. home for World Without End, as it is for The Pillars of the Earth.

“Broadcasters worldwide understand that once you have captivated an audience, you must reward their loyalty by building on the franchise,” said Rola Bauer, the partner and managing director of Tandem Communications. “World Without End allows us to give our partners on The Pillars of the Earth that next part of the franchise.”

“I am thrilled that the ‘A’ team that has created the wonderful series of Pillars is also going to film the sequel,” commented Follett.

“The production values on Pillars are comparable to what we would expect in a feature,” said David W. Zucker, the president of Scott Free Television. “With the now long-standing relationship between Tandem and Scott Free, it makes perfect sense to seek out an opportunity to extend that spectacular quality to more of Ken Follett’s great storytelling and John Pielmeier’s wonderful adaptation.”

“We were impressed by the quality and ambitions Tandem and Scott Free brought to The Pillars of the Earth,” Starz president and CEO, Chris Albrecht, said of the event series. “We expect the same, if not more, with the World Without End adaptation, and hope it can be developed into another event series for Starz in the U.S.”