Peacock's live-action adaptation of the bestselling sci-fi novel series "Dungeon Crawler Carl" has gained veteran screenwriter Eric Heisserer as co-showrunner, marking a significant boost in creative talent behind the project. Heisserer, an Academy Award nominee for adapting Denis Villeneuve's 2016 film "Arrival" and showrunner of Netflix's "Shadow and Bone", joins writer Chris Yost in shaping the show, which is one of Peacock's most ambitious undertakings after NBCUniversal beat off strong competition to secure the rights.

The news follows the recent announcement at San Diego Comic-Con that Jeff Hays, narrator of the popular DCC audiobooks, would voice Princess Donut, the talking cat companion of protagonist Carl. Matt Dinniman's book series, which follows survivors battling aliens and monsters in an alien-run dungeon after an invasion wipes out most of Earth's population, has sold more than 14 million copies across eight books and racked up 140 million listening hours on Audible. Producer Seth MacFarlane is also involved, though casting for Carl and other key characters has yet to be confirmed.