Syfy has become infamous for their trashy and generally terrible Saturday night original movies. Sometimes they're so bad they're fun, other times they're just sad. But now the network is uniting them with a common theme. Much like Tin Man and Alice did with literary classics, Syfy is looking to reimagined fairy tales for their Saturday features.
They've already got several under way, including "Little Red Riding Hood," The Voyages of Sinbad," "Hansel and Gretel," "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" and others. They kick things off with a twisted Valentine's celebration in their twist on "Beauty and the Beast."
Beauty and the Beast premieres Saturday, February 27 at 9 PM ET. Here's how Syfy describes the film:
Starring Estella Warren (Planet of the Apes), Beauty and the Beast is not the traditional Disney fairy tale. In this gritty celebration of Valentine’s Day, a young Beauty (Warren) with a gift for healing helps a deformed Prince (Rhett Gilles, Wraiths of Roanoke) regain his throne and defeat the ruthless nobleman who wants to be king — and then together they try to destroy a power-hungry witch. Beauty and the Beast was directed by David Lister and written by Gavin Scott.
They've also offered a look at the other films currently in various stages of production:
>>Red — A young woman who is a descendant of the real Little Red Riding Hood brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business – hunting werewolves. He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf. When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him.>>Hansel — Twenty years after his encounter with the witch, a grown-up Hansel returns to the haunted forest, seeking revenge. But there’s a surprise waiting – his sister Gretel (who he thought had been killed) is the witch’s protégée.>>8th Voyage of Sinbad — Sinbad searches for the golden head of the long lost Colossus of Rhodes and, instead, discovers an island where the mythical Minotaur still rules, protecting a vast treasure. Sinbad and his crew have to battle the creature and its minions to get the treasure and save their own lives.>>Aladdin (working title) — After accidentally releasing an evil genie from an ancient lamp, Aladdin must find a way to imprison the genie again before it wreaks havoc on the world.Black Forest — A group of naïve tourists take a sightseeing tour into a supposed enchanted forest, where they encounter evil creatures from the world of fantasy. Trapped in the Black Forest, their only hope of survival is fighting their way out.
The network is even open to the possibility of considering these films back-door pilots, should any of them turn out worthy and generate enough buzz with fans. Personally, I'd still love to see the Vertigo series Fables as an ongoing series, but that should definitely be treated to a bigger budget than these will likely see. Better yet for the network, these are familiar concepts with no licensing cost.
