American independent production company Skydance Television announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Patrick Massett and John Zinman (Friday Night Lights executive producers, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider writers) for the pair to serve as writers, showrunners, and executive producers on Skydance television projects, including Skydance’s live-action Sword Art Online (SAO) series.
Skydance Interactive is also planning a Sword Art Online virtual reality experience after the television series.
Skydance announced the series adaptation of Reki Kawahara’s Sword Art Online light novels in August 2016.
Massett and Zinman are joining Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Terminator Genisys) in writing the pilot script, and are executive producing along with Kalogridis and Skydance’s Marcy Ross, David Ellison, and Dana Goldberg.