Despite not having anything to do with MTV’s upcoming Scream series beyond an executive producer credit, filmmaker Wes Craven still has his eye on the small screen for the next chunk of his career. He has entered into a first look deal with Universal Cable Productions that already has three projects lined up. For Syfy, Craven is developing a series based on his gross-out 1991 film People Under the Stairs, as well as one based on Daryl Gregory’s 2014 novella We are All Completely Fine. Plus, UCP will back Craven’s previously announced adaptation of the upcoming graphic novel The Disciples.
Let’s look at these projects one by one, shall we?
Not generally one of Craven’s most well-remembered films, The People Under the Stairs is still a hoot almost 25 years later. The film told the story of a trio of inner city citizens who pick the wrong house to mess with, soon finding themselves prey for the Robesons and the abominations inside their basement. Considering this basically worked as a single-location horror with monstrous antagonists, I can’t imagine where the series will take things, especially since it’s being described as a “contemporary Downton Abbey meets The Amityville Horror,” according to Deadline. But I also didn’t think Bates Motel was going to be able to keep its plot moving, and I love the shit out of that show. The script will be written by Shadowhunters scribe Michael Reisz, who will executive produce with Craven.
The Nebula Award-nominated We are All Completely Fine centers on psychologist Dr. Jan Sayer, who puts together a support group of five people who have lived through insanely horrific scenarios that few people believe actually happened. Together, they must figure out what’s haunting them from within, and which are the threats in the real world. Craven is getting hands-on with this one, as he’s attached to both write the script for the potential pilot, as well as direct.
Disciples, written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Christopher Mitten, doesn’t have a network home just yet. It tells a futuristic story where the wealthy have taken over the universe, living on moons throughout the solar system. Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has been colonized by McCauley Richmond, who is worshipped by a ton of cult members. A trio of detectives travels to the moon to save one of those cultists, who is the daughter of a senator. Craven is executive producing this one with Niles.
There’s never enough horror out there, so here’s hoping all three of these projects make it to series. It’s entirely possible, given how keen both Syfy and UCP are in churning out genre programming.
