HBO Plans on “Going Big” with the Game of Thrones Spin-Offs
There is still very little in the way of details on the upcoming Game of Thrones spin-offs, but HBO has indicated they are willing to throw a lot of money at these new shows. Speaking at the INTV conference, HBO senior VP of drama Francesca Orsi said that “$50 million [per season] would never fly for what we are trying to do. We are going big”. He also said that the network is planning up to five spin-offs. George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire world definitely has plenty of room for more stories, but whether five spin-offs would be stretching it too thin remains to be seen. Martin previously indicated on his blog that all of these shows would be prequels and that no Dunk & Egg series is planned at this point. The first of the spin-offs is currently not scheduled to debut until after the final season of Game of Thrones airs next year.
Sci Fi TV Development: FX Orders Pilot for Alex Garland’s Devs
FX has ordered a pilot for the high-tech series Devs, created by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation). Variety gives the following description for the project:
Devs follows a young computer engineer as she investigates the secretive development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company in San Francisco, which she believes is behind her boyfriend’s disappearance.
The network will likely be targeting late 2018 or early 2019 to get this on the schedule.
Global Road Television is working on a pilot for a supernatural docu-drama titled The Dark Beneath from Guy Busick (Stan Against Evil) and R. Christopher Murphy. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the project:
The Dark Beneath is about a documentary filmmaker whose investigation into a decades-old murder-suicide leads him into a shadowy world of conspiracy, prophecy, and the supernatural.
No network or streaming service is attached at this point.
FOX Exec Says Buffy Reboot/Revival is Up to Joss Whedon
The subject of reboots came up at the INTV Conference in talks with FOX exec Gary Newman (his network currently has The X-Files on the schedule and another 24 in the works), and he was asked about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Newman claimed that one “is probably the most ripe show we have for bringing back,” but that nothing is currently in the works. He did say that “It’s something we talk about frequently. Joss Whedon is one of the greatest creators we’ve ever worked for. When Joss decides it’s time, we’ll do it.” Buffy is owned by FOX, but aired on The WB and UPN over its seven seasons. Considering that FOX cancelled Whedon’s Firefly after one season and Dollhouse after two, I’m thinking he would be leery about working with that network again, though he is currently writing for the Buffy comics.
The CW Heads to The Outpost this Summer
The CW has picked up the ten-episode first season of the fantasy series The Outpost from Stargate alums Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner. Here is the official description of the show:
Years after her entire village is destroyed by a gang of brutal mercenaries, Talon travels to a lawless fortress on the edge of the civilized world, as she tracks the killers of her family. On her journey to this outpost, Talon discovers she possesses a mysterious supernatural power that she must learn to control in order to save herself, and defend the world against a fanatical religious dictator.
Jessica Green (Ash vs. Evil Dead) will star as Talon and the cast also includes Jake Stormoen, Imogen Waterhouse, and Andrew Howard. The CW has not set a premiere date, but look for it to hit the schedule around June.
Sci Fi TV Status Report: FOX Exec Discusses the Prospects for The Exorcist, The Last Man on Earth, and Gotham
Deadline Hollywood talked with FOX Chairman Gary Newman at the INTV conference about several of the network’s shows, and he had less than promising things to say about The Exorcist and The Last Man on Earth. For the former show, his comment was that it’s “clearly a show that’s on the bubble.” Apparently FOX hoped that they would “be able to tap into a moviegoing crowd who didn’t want to go out to the movies”, but the show’s numbers were low in its first year and slipped further this past Fall. As for The Last Man on Earth, Newman said that one was also a “bubble show” and that whether it comes back is “really going to be a matter of, as we sit down and schedule, what kind of room do we have? How do our pilots pan out?” Newman also talked about Gotham and seemed more upbeat at that show: “We asked a lot of it this year moving to Thursday nights and I thought it did a pretty good job of opening up that night for us. I feel like Gotham should have a place in our schedule.” He did qualify that by stating that is its “purely be a matter of scheduling.”
Based on these comments, I would say that it looks unlikely that The Exorcist will be back for a third season and it is pretty much a toss-up for The Last Man on Earth and Gotham. Be sure to follow CancelledSciFi.com for updates on these shows and the rest of the currently airing sci fi TV entries as we head toward the end of the season.
Sci Fi TV Schedule: Krypton Has its Debut Next Week
Syfy’s highly anticipated Superman prequel series Krypton hits the schedule next week, debuting on Wednesday at 10 PM EST. That one focuses on Kal El’s grandfather in the days before !!!SPOILER WARNING!!! Krypton is destroyed and you can see the trailer above. Also debuting next week is the second season of Netflix’s dark comedy The Santa Clarita Diet. It will be available for streaming of Friday. Wrapping up their seasons next week are FOX’s The X-Files (Wednesday 8 PM EST), Freeform’s Beyond (Thursday 8 PM EST), and Starz’s Counterpart (Sunday 8 PM EST). But plenty more shows are around the corner to fill up the gap as early April brings us the premieres of The Crossing (ABC), Legion Season 2 (FX), The Expanse Season 3 (Syfy), and more. You get a preview of upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows at this link and you can keep up with the week listings at this link.
More Sci Fi TV News
AMC will play the Season 8 finale for The Walking Dead along with the Season 4 premiere for Fear the Walking Dead, when Morgan will head to the sequel series, back-to-back in 750 theaters across the country on April 15th.
Apparently trying to out do HBO’s spending on fantasy series, Amazon paid $250 million for the rights to do a Lord of the Rings prequel series and could spend as much as another $250 million on two seasons.
