NATCHEZ — Greg Iles’ bestseller, “Natchez Burning,” soon may become a television series.

Iles said Wednesday night he planned to pop some champagne corks, celebrating the accomplishment for his novel and the potential the project could mean for Natchez.

The website Deadline.com reported late Wednesday “Natchez Burning,” a Tobey Maguire-produced thriller based on Iles’ novel, is being developed by Amazon Studios.

Deadline.com reports the project would be written by writer and producer David Hudgins, who was instrumental in the shows “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood.”

The best news for Natchez may be that the television series could be filmed on location here and in Vidalia and Concordia Parish.

Iles was quick to point out no plans are set in stone.

“It’s Hollywood, so nothing is guaranteed, but right now the plan is to shoot here on location, the same as ‘True Detective’ was shot in south Louisiana and ‘Friday Night Lights’ was filmed in Austin, Texas,” Iles said. “It’s going to be a show like ‘True Detective’ and ‘Game of Thrones,’ which are cable TV series. This would be a multiple-season series.”

Iles was approached by a number of producers who wanted to develop projects using “Natchez Burning.” However, he said when contacted by Maguire and Hudgins, he knew they were the ones with whom he should work.

“There was no doubt in my mind. I knew they were the guys to make this,” he said. “The last thing I would ever want to do is to make a show about the South that was not authentic. Hudgins is not only from the South, but he has Mississippi ties. He got the book completely, and Tobey did, too.”

Iles was a fan of Hudgins’ “Friday Night Lights.”

“I really loved that show. I thought they really got the small-town South right on that show,” he said.

Iles will not take part in writing for the television series, though he will co-produce it.

“In the beginning some of the producers asked if I was interested in writing it, and I was not. I still have to concentrate on producing the third book,” he said. “They have been generous about including me and I will certainly have input, but Hudgins is definitely writing the show. Not writing the show is actually a relief to me. I trust the guy who wrote ‘Friday Night Lights’ a lot more than I trust myself.”

Potentially, Natchez television viewers could watch an early release of the show late next year.

“If this is green-lighted, the important thing for Natchez is that the show could be in production here as early as next summer, which would mean film crews here in the summer and fall of 2016,” Iles said. “The most exciting thing to me is the projected budget. It’s comparable to the budgets of ‘True Detective’ and ‘Game of Thrones.’ That’s the kind of budget where you hire name actors and don’t short-change anything.”

Iles said “Natchez Burning” is too long and complicated to be considered a feature film, but “by pure accident, it was the perfect length to be a cable TV series. After 20 years of writing books, I finally got it right.”

Iles is optimistic, but cautious, about what the series could mean for Natchez.

“I want people to understand nothing in Hollywood is guaranteed, but the players involved in this deal are very strong and intent on making this. Right now, the intention is to shoot the show on location. If that happens, it really would be significant for the future of Natchez,” Iles said. “Unlike some projects that have been filmed here, where Natchez served as a setting for another place, if this goes all the way to production and is made and becomes a hit TV series, Natchez could become the center of the national conversation for a while. If all goes well, it could be a transformative event for the future of this town.”