Scanners [TV show]

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from the "wtf?????????" file....
io9 wrote:Head-exploding science fiction flick Scanners gets a TV show

These days, director David Cronenberg does Oscar-style fare like A History of Violence, but back in the 1980s he made splattery body horror cheesefests. Scanners is one of the best of the lot, giving us a spooky, memorably gross, look at the lives of outcast telepaths who were the victims of government experiments. Also, there were a lot of exploding heads. Now, Weinstein Co.'s Dimension Films is producing a TV series based on Cronenberg's weird flick.

According to Deadline Hollywood:
The original plan was to mount a theatrical remake, with David Goyer tapped to write two drafts, and Rene Malo, Clark Peterson and Pierre David signed as producers. But with the recent resurgence of genre TV dramas like AMC's monster hit The Walking Dead, Dimension started also considering a small-screen adaptation. According to insiders, it was Dimension principal Bob Weinstein and Aja who conceived of the plan to transform the Scanners property into a TV show.
Another one of Cronenberg's films, The Dead Zone, was a successful TV series in the early 2000s.
came out of nowhere. has the potential to be good, or really really bad....

Re: Scanners [TV show]

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"splattery body horror cheesefests?" I expect better from a sci fi blog, cheesefests are hardly what Cronenberg did in the 80s. Cronenberg himself has somewhat written off Scanners as being too much of an attempt to make an action movie on his part, but yes, if they get the right people involved this could be a cool show. Superpowers and government conspiracies can add up to some good fun.
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Re: Scanners [TV show]

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11 years later...
Fango wrote:David Cronenberg's SCANNERS Will Become An HBOMax Series

Well, consider our minds blown: according to The Hollywood Reporter, David Cronenberg's heavily-memed 1981 classic, Scanners, is getting the series treatment over at HBOMax, with Black Mirror scribe William Bridges ("USS Callister") and Yann Demange (who helmed the pilot episode of HBO's dearly-departed Lovecraft Country) in the director's chair.

Scanners, as you surely don't need to be told but I'm gonna forge ahead, anyway, took place in a world where some folks (the titular "Scanners") are blessed/cursed with various telekinetic, psychic, and telepathic powers. The plot revolves around one faction of Scanners, led by the iconic Michael Ironside, waging war against a rival group of Scanners (employed by a sinister private security firm called ConSec). It is, yes, the movie from the gif where the guy's head explodes.

So, what's this version about? THR says:

"The series is being described as a visceral thriller set in the mind-bending world of Cronenberg’s film. It will focus on two women living on the fringes of modern society who are pursued by relentless agents with unimaginable powers and thus must learn to work together to topple a vast conspiracy determined to bring them to heel."

Interesting, and doubly so considering that they're planning this as an ongoing series, rather than an original feature or limited event. Also worth noting: Cronenberg himself is onboard to Executive Produce, which lends this series its own sort of blessing that'll certainly be of value to fans of the original. Of interest to FANGORIA Editor-in-Chief Phil Nobile Jr. (and possibly you, the gentle reader at home) is the fact that Demange was at one point under consideration to direct the most recent James Bond film, No Time to Die.

We're a way off from Scanners hitting HBOMax, obviously, but we're very excited about this project and will of course keep you informed as further news and casting updates roll in.

Re: Scanners [TV show]

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"Getting the series treatment over at HBOMax" isn't exactly a good sign, given how Discovery seems intent on junking the platform.
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