Bad news, friends.M. Night Shyamalan’s reboot ofTales from the Cryptis off the docket, at least for now. Last year, TNT teamed with theSplitdirector to reinvent the classic horror series as the centerpiece of a weekly two-hour horror programming block that would feature short and long-form storytelling curated by Shyamalan, hosted by a new Cryptkeeper. A few months later,the network issues a ten-episode orderfor the series and commissioned two new horror shows calledTime of DeathandCreaturesto go with it. Things were looking good for a new weekly horror destination, but in a recent interview with Deadline (via our friends atBirth.Movies.Death) TNT presidentKevin Reillyrevealed that the horror block has been backburnered after they ran into rights issues withTales from the Crypt.
“That one got really caught up in a complete legal mess unfortunately with a very complicated underlying rights structure,” Reilly said. “We lost so much time, so I said, ‘Look, I’m not waiting around four years for this thing’. Maybe that will come back around but in the meantime,Ridley Scotthad come up, who has so much creative enthusiasm.”
Yep, it’s not all bad news. The network is now teaming up with Scott to develop a sci-fi block, which they’re looking to debut in 2018. While there may be some pilot pickups, Reilly says “it could be a series order. When you got Ridley, there are projects he is potentially interested in getting directly involved.” That might include directing, according to the report.
With Tales from the Crypt shelved, the horror block is taking a major hit but that doesn’t mean it’s gone for good. Asked if the network would carry on without Shyamalan’s series as the centerpiece Reilly said, “I haven’t ruled it out. We don’t have a specific property today but we’re open to it."
Shyamalan’s in the midst of return to form withSplitandThe Visit, and his cheeky B-movie flair would have been a wonderful fit for aTales from the Cryptreboot so this is some bummer news. Especially since it means we might loose two hours of weekly horror programming in theTales from the Cryptlegal woes. What do you guys think? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
