Looks like 12 Monkeys has been given a new life past being a cult film. Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys is gearing up to become a television series on SyFy.
The network has received huge attention from the bizarre popularity of the televised movie Sharknado , and now it looks like the producers are looking to capture that success, but hopefully with a classier fair.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Monkeys the television series has original producers Chuck Roven and Richard Suckle lined up to take over the project. The two pitched the series to SyFy, and it looks like the network really loved the idea.
12 Monkeys starred Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis in their glory days. Pitt played a man sent back in time with the task of finding out the cause of a killer virus but instead lands himself in a mental ward with Willis.
In terms of other shows SyFy has fostered, 12 Monkeys is taking cues from Battlestar Galactica by creating a 90-minute pilot, which will be used to launch the series and earn new viewers who may not be familiar with the 1995 film.
Mark Stern, the president of SyFy told The Hollywood Reporter of the savvy move:
“We have a great pilot, we’re now flushing out what the rest of the series might be.”
No word on what director Terry Gilliam thinks of the television show, but here’s what he had to say about sequels in general. Perhaps it applies to shows as well?
“You’ve got to repeat all the things you saw in the previous film. It’s nice to be able to go back and see the same film again and again and again and again. Fast & Furious 6! There’s a repetitiveness that I think is about how people are so confused about the world, it’s changing so fast, so go back and keep re-experiencing something you liked once. Like a McDonald’s hamburger.”
Are you excited to see what SyFy has in store for 12 Monkeys?