Photo: The Magicians films at 19th century mansion called the Round Table Club in New Orleans.
Harry Potter for adults? Levitating sex? Twenty-somethings at a secret college for magic party like any other students but with something extra. Syfy’s new fantasy series The Magicians will film in metro Vancouver this summer, after shooting its pilot late last year in New Orleans. Based on books by Lev Grossman, The Magicians follows Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) as he leaves Brooklyn to attend the Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy in upstate New York where he and his friends learn how to practice magic and then travel to the magic land of Fillory. Stella Maeve, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta and Summer Bishil co-star.
Former Supernatural show runner Sera Gamble told The Times-Picayune that lush New Orleans established a unique magical landscape for the pilot very different from that of Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. Can Vancouver match that in the next twelve episodes? Gamble, writer John McNamara and producer Michael London optioned the rights to The Magicians trilogy with their own money because they believed so strongly in the potential of the series.
“Ever since The Magicians was published I’ve wanted to see this story on screen. The people, the school, the other worlds, the magic. I’m so thrilled that it’s finally happening, and I’m beyond thrilled that we found the right people to do it. Get ready; you’ve never seen anything like this,” author Lev Grossman said in a Syfy press statement.
The Magicians series is expected to start filming in metro Vancouver this [August].