AMC Mines Red Mars for New Sci-Fi Series

[Robby]

AMC Mines Red Mars for New Sci-Fi Series

AMC is going to Mars.

Hot on the heels of its Emmy wins for Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the cable channel is making its move into sci-fi by developing a new series based on Red Mars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Writer-producer Jonathan Hensleigh (Armageddon, Die Hard: With a Vengeance) will be in charge of adapting Kim Stanley Robinson's classic 1992 novel, which describes a team of humans as they attempt to colonize the planet.

Although the show is set in outer space, don't expect much in the way of visual effects. AMC programming exec Jeremy Elice said the show is character-driven: "It's not the spectacle of sci-fi that you typically see," he told the Reporter.

Also in the works at AMC is a mini-series version of The Prisoner. The 1960s British TV show dramatized the brain-melting adventures of a man trapped in a posh estate under the surveillance of mysterious handlers.

The update features Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel. If the new Prisoner even comes close to the chilling atmosphere evoked by star/co-creator Patrick McGoohan in the original series, then AMC will probably be taking home more Emmys this time next year.

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

See also:

• Race to Mars Adventure Heavy on Hard Science
• Prosthetic Fetishes and Fan Erotica: Sci-Fi Predicts Future of Sex
• Mel Brooks Reanimates Sci-Fi Parody Spaceballs
• Belly Dancer Turns Sci-Fi Fantasies Into Career
• ABC Rediscovers Life on Mars

(Via Wired)

 

[Kevin]

Why, oh why, remake The Prisoner? Why?! The original series was aired at the height of the Cold War and its visuals captured the 'feel' of the 1960s. It was a moment in time that told some excellent stories. If they want to do a Prisoner-like show, then fine, give it a different name (eg: The Nightstalker => The X-Files => Fringe) but in the name of all that is good, no more "re-imagined" TV shows!

I do not predict good things shall come of this.