AMC Picks Up Sci-Fi Drama ‘Thunderstruck’, Charlize Theron To Star

Posted Saturday, November 12th, 2011 04:00 pm GMT -4 by 0

Over the past few years, AMC with it’s AMC Original series has rapidly replaced HBO as the go-to cable channel for amazing original programming. They have period drama (‘Mad Men’), crime (‘Breaking Bad’), horror (‘Walking Dead’) and, most recently, western (‘Hell on Wheels’). Now AMC is looking to expand into sci-fi with a new original titled ‘Thunderstruck’.

‘Thunderstruck’ will be an hour long sci-fi drama executive produced by Paul Boardman and Scott Derrickson. The pair is most famous for writing the supernatural thriller ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’. Derrickson has also sat in the directors chair a few times, most notably for the 2008 remake of ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’. Joining Boardman and Derrickson will be David Eick, the ex-executive producer of ‘Battlestar Galactica’. Charlize Theron is attached to the project to star and produce.

‘Thunderstruck’ follows an alien invasion in which intergalactic entities begin popping up around the world. The show will focus on the small town of Great Falls, Montana where one of the entities has arrived, as the townsfolk must deal with the being and its appearances.

If ‘Thunderstruck’ can do with aliens what ‘The Walking Dead’ has with the undead, then this could be a very well received show. AMC has been very successful in bringing drama into unique situations and this show sounds like it fits well into their programming. Derrickson, Boardman and Eick obviously have experience in the genre so that is also a big plus.

No news when the show will premiere but hopefully soon. As usual, we’ll keep you posted as more news emerges.

In addition to ‘Thunderstruck’, Eick is also working on two more genre shows with Guillermo Del Toro. He is developing Marvel Comics’ ‘Hulk’ for ABC and ‘Inhuman’ for HBO.

Related posts:

Charlize Theron‘Prometheus’ – Charlize Theron Continues To Tease Us With Hints About Her Character Hyde featuredABC Picks Up A Second ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Television Pitch The DivideAnchor Bay Picks Up Post-Apocalyptic Film ‘The Divide’ At SXSW RustFox Picks Up Rights To Develop Science Fiction Graphic Novel ‘Rust: Visitor In The Field’ By Royden Lepp
  • Jack Tingle

    I was OK with this until they said “intergalactic.” Does the INS have separate quotas for each Messier and IC number? “All right interstellars to the left, intergalactics to the right, and Solar System travelers follow the blue line.” Does the series differentiate between stories about interstellar visitors and intergalactic arrivals? “Oh, you’re from Tau Ceti, sorry, we can’t use your story. We don’t do stories about visitors from the Milky Way. Hmmm. The Magellenic Clouds? We’d have to do a case-by-case review. Come back some other time.”

    • http://twitter.com/JoshKEvans JKE

      You are nitpicking too much with the “intergalactic” term, though I realize you are being partly comedic.

      I’m hoping this series does not use spaceships, but rather uses portals like the boom tubes of Darkseid’s Apocalypse world in the Superman universe, or stargates as in SG-1. We have already seen an alien invasion use ships in the recently cancelled “V” series. Time for something different.