SyFy Confirms Pilot Orders For 'Cipher' & '(Future) Cult Classic'

SyFy is continuing to push their content in the future, with new ideas and new directions, the latest of which being their decision to greenlight the pilots for A.I. Drama ‘Cipher’ and the dark comedy ‘(Future) Cult Classic’ (both being working titles for the moment).

‘Cipher’ comes from Allison Miller (‘Strange Angel’) who wrote the pilot and will executive produce, and is the story of how secret military technology accidentally gets put into the brain of a 13-year of video-game player, putting the child and his dad in the middle of an artificial intelligence war, making it sound a bit like ‘Chuck,’ though hopefully, the comparison will stop at the idea of a computer program being implanted in someone’s head. The pilot will be directed by Peter Hoar (who also directed the pilot of Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’), while David Gordan Green, Danny McBride, Jody Hill and Brandon James will join the series as executive producers for Rough House Pictures.

As for ‘(Future) Cult Classic,’ the story comes from Shay Hatten (‘Ballerina’) who is writing the pilot, which is a darkly comedic story set 18 years in the future where a group of teens has to deal with a serial killer obsessed with 1990’s slasher movies, making a decision to take matters into their own hands and track down the killer before they become the next victims. The whole thing is supposed to be a mix of high-school drama and satire and sounds like it could be a fun show if done well, though the future twist could make it either very interesting or very campy/corny. The show is being executive produced by Tim Kirkby (‘Veep’), who will also direct the pilot, with Broadway Video also on board to executive produce.

According to Bill McGoldrick, President, Scripted Content, NBCU Cable Entertainment:

“’Cipher’ and ‘(Future) Cult Classic’ are genre-bending stories with gripping scripts and talented creatives attached. Both are very unique projects that we are excited to pilot as we look towards the future of Syfy.”

Adding to his encouraging words was Dawn Olmstead, UCP President, who said:

“It has been an inspiring process working with teams behind ‘Cipher’ and ‘(Future) Cult Classic.’ Allison Miller and Shay Hatten are rising stars who have created strong and diverse worlds that we are looking forward to bringing to life with our partners at Syfy.”

What are your thoughts on these new shows coming to SyFy? Do they seem a bit derivative of other shows of the past decade or so? Or do you think they’ll be able to stand on their own? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below!

Source: Deadline