Guillermo del Toro's TV thriller 'The Strain' gets second season

[August 20, 2014] LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gory paranormal television thriller "The Strain," one of the top new series on U.S. cable television, has been renewed for a second 13-episode season, U.S. cable network FX said on Tuesday.

The vampire horror drama from "Pacific Rim" filmmaker Guillermo del Toro debuted last month and has averaged 11 million total viewers, including delayed, online and video on demand viewing, over its first six episodes, FX said.

The series is based on del Toro's trilogy of books, "The Strain" with author Chuck Hogan, who is also an executive producer along with "Lost" producer Carlton Cuse. It stars Corey Stoll as a New York epidemiologist.

With del Toro as its driving creative force, the series continues a trend of top film talent finding homes on cable television in recent years.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Mary Milliken and Tom Brown)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.