Stella Maeve, Hale Appleman and Arjun Gupta cast in 'The Magicians' pilot

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Stella Maeve, Hale Appleman and Arjun Gupta have landed key roles in the upcoming pilot The Magicians, an adaptation of Lev Grossman's best-selling book series, Syfy announced.

The project is to start shooting in New Orleans next month with Mike Cahill onboard to direct.

Produced by Universal Cable Productions, the pilot will follow "20-somethings who, while studying magic in New York, discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real and poses grave danger to humanity," a synopsis said.

John McNamara and Sera Gamble are writing the script, with Michael London to serve as producer.