FX Orders Guillermo del Toro, Carlton Cuse Drama The Strain

FX has given a 13-episode order for The Strain from Guillermo del Toro,Carlton Cuse and author Chuck Hogan, the network announcedTuesday.

The drama is based on the vampire novel trilogy of the same name written by del Toro and Hogan, who co-wrote the pilot, which del Toro will also direct. The series will star Corey Stoll as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. When a viral outbreak of ancient vampirism begins to spread, Eph, his team and a group of average New Yorkers will fight for humanity's future.

Check out our fall TV report card

In addition to Stoll, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Kevin Durand, Natalie Brown, Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel, Robert Maillet, Jack Kesy, Ben Hyland and Miguel Gomez will star. The series is currently recasting the role of Professor Abraham Setrakian, which will no longer be played byJohn Hurt.

"The Strain books are near and dear to my heart and now, Chuck and I have the blessing of a partnership with Carlton and FX that holds great promise," del Toro said in a statement. "Working with FX has yielded an amazing experience with total creative freedom and support."

"Working with visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and the team at FX has been a dream come true for me," Cuse added. "Guillermo's epic, cinematic pilot for The Strain starts a chilling and compelling story that will upend everything you thought you knew about vampires."

In addition to del Toro, Hogan and Cuse, Gary Ungar will serve as executive producer.

The Strain will begin production later this month in Toronto and is aiming for a July 2014 premiere.