Christian Gossett’s The Red Star remains one of the most unusual comics of the past decade or so — an alternate history of the U.S.S.R. that mixes futuristic technology and sorcery. This sprawling saga was going to be a movie directed by Josh Trank — but now sources tell io9 it’s in development for television instead.

According to inside sources, Warner Bros. has lost the movie rights to The Red Star, which The Chronicle director Josh Trank was attached to direct.

Instead, the rights have moved to writing/producing duo Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz, who co-wrote Thor and X-Men: First Class and worked on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Sources tell us that Miller and Stentz are planning a TV adaptation instead of a movie. Original Film, which was producing the film version, is still involved. They’re hoping to sell Red Star to a premium cable network.

Red Star follows Maya Antares through wars in alternate versions of Afghanistan and Chechnya, and uses fantastical technology and magic to show a very different version of the Soviet Union, called the United Republics of the Red Star.

The series began in 1999, and its depiction of war in Afghanistan helped educate a lot of people about actual Afghan history after 9/11. In addition to its unusual blend of super-science, magic and alt-history, this comic also had unique visuals, thanks in part to its production process that used 3-D modeling and design elements to assemble every page.

http://io9.com/the-alternate-u-s-s-r-epic-red-star-will-be-a-tv-show-1516862689