MTV is really getting on the genre kick as they’ve just announced that they will be doing an ongoing series of ‘War of the Worlds.’ This comes not even a week after MTV has picked up Dark Horse’s ‘Freaks of the Heartland‘ which further makes me think that the M in MTV now stands for Monster. Especially with ‘Scream’ and ‘Teen Wolf’ doing so well after the aborted attempt for ‘Death Valley’.
With the sixth season being the last for ‘Teen Wolf,’ it is clearly a good time for MTV to look into expanding its options. It should also be noticed that this has nothing to do with the other take of ‘The War of the Worlds’ being developed by Mammoth Screen.
It looks like MTV is confident in the abilities of Andrew Cochran as he’s back after his stint for writing ‘Teen Wolf’ to tackle writing duties here with creator and executive producer of the series Jeff Davis also returning. Also on producing will be The Firm’s Josh Barry and Jeff Kwatinetz.
Barry above is actually a huge fan of the work and this is a passion project for him as his grandfather Gene Berry was the star of the original 1953 film. With a multitude of adaptations having been released of the novel since that time, it should be no surprise that a TV format would fit to expand upon the tale.
Personally, I’m hoping they take inspiration from the 1938 radio adaption read by Orson Welles which was a slew of fake news announcements about a Martian invasion that actually had the populace of North America in a panic that we were actually being invaded. A full on news series or documentary might not work but each episode could include a news segment at the beginning or end if done right.
While ‘Fargo’ and ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ have proven that turning films into series can work, this will be a property that could either be a huge success or massive flop depending on what direction they go with it.
Are you excited for the idea of a new ‘War of the Worlds’ series? Do you think that MTV is the right network for it? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Deadline
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
