CBS orders Stephen King adaptation from Spielberg’s Amblin

US broadcaster CBS is teaming with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television to launch a series based on Stephen King’s novel Under The Dome. The show has been ordered straight to series.

The network has ordered 13 episodes of the adaptation from CBS Television Studios, Amblin Television and Simon & Schuster, which was initially published in 2009.

The show, which will launch in April 2013, is set in a small New England town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. The residents must deal with the post apocalyptic conditions as they try and survive.

“This is a great novel coming to the television screen with outstanding auspices and in-season production values to create a summer programming event,” said Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. “We’re excited to transport audiences Under The Dome and into the extraordinary world that Stephen King has imagined.”

The series, which will be executive produced by Neal Baer, Stephen King, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Stacey Snider and Brian Vaughan, will be distributed internationally by CBS Studios International.