It was only last July, but it seems like thousands of years ago that we first heard about this "Clan of the Cave Bear" TV series -- and now we're finally getting updates on its progress.

Last year, Lifetime gave a pilot order to an adaptation of Jean M. Auel's six-book series, which features "The Clan of the Cave Bear" as the first title. The story follows a girl's struggle to survive in a prehistoric time when modern Cro-Magnons interacted with Neanderthals. There was a movie made in 1986 starring Daryl Hannah, but this series is probably trying to erase that from our memories.

"I've always admired Jean M. Auel's timeless work," Rob Sharenow, Lifetime's exec VP and general manager, told Variety at the time. "With the visionary creative team of Ron Howard, Linda Woolverton, Brian Grazer, Alli Shearmur, Jean M. Auel and Francie Calfo behind it, this project has it all — epic storytelling, great characters and a unique world that's never been explored on television before. This is exactly the type of top-tier creative talent and great stories we embrace at Lifetime."

Ron Howard just finished filming "Inferno" -- the latest Dan Brown movie with Tom Hanks -- and now he's apparently turning his attentions to "Clan." He just tweeted this photo on set, and an update for a curious fan:


So far it's just a pilot, not a full series order, but with such an impressive team in place it's hard to imagine we won't get to see the full "epic series" ... eventually. The original 2014 story said "Clan of the Cave Bear" was targeted for a potential 2015 launch, but it's not clear if that's still the case.

MTV noted that the star of the pilot, Millie Brady, has been sharing updates on Instagram. Here are a few pics, and you can keep an eye on her to see if she shares more:

Clan of the cuddle bears #ClanoftheCaveBear

A photo posted by Millie Brady (@millie_brady) on

And so it begins... ???? #ClanoftheCaveBear #CapeTown @lifetimetv

A photo posted by Millie Brady (@millie_brady) on

Full article @ http://www.farfetch.com/uk/editorial/new-girl-millie-brady.aspx @farfetch #FarfetchFashion

A photo posted by Millie Brady (@millie_brady) on


And here's a promo video with background:


We're looking forward to hearing more about this one. What do you think so far?

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