Don’t fear that Syfy is just doing new reality show pilots because today they’ve announced a new series based on a near classic film: 12 Monkeys. The series will be based on the scifi drama directed by Terry Gilliam back in 1995 which also featured Brad Pitt in one of the best performances of his career and Bruce Willis when he was still acting and not just feeling his way through films. The pilot is being produced by Atlas Productions, they same production team behind the original film.
The series, like the film, will follow a time traveler from the post-apocalyptic future who appears in present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will eventually decimate the human race. Some of the things that made the original film so riveting were the performances of the two leads and the atmospheric direction of the director. Also there was a sense of ambiguity in the film for a while that made it mysterious, of course that won’t be present in the television series. At the same time this sort of story is perfect for Syfy because it mixes current time settings which offer grounded storytelling opportunities while being budget friendly and the possibilities for the scifi portions are a near open book style and story wise.
Production is set to begin in November with Terry Matalas & Travis Fickett (Terra Nova, Nikita), who wrote the pilot script, serving as Co-Executive Producers. Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven (American Hustle, Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Trilogy) and Richard Suckle (American Hustle, The International), will Executive Produce. Roven produced the original film.