Sci Fi TV News Briefs: Quick hits keeping you updated on sci fi and fantasy television news.
Stephen King Takes a Stand: A mini-series based on Stephen King’s The Stand was previously announced for CBS All Access and this week we learned that James Marsden, Amber Heard, Odessa Young and Henry Zaga will be among the cast. Also announced this week at the TCAs, King will write a final chapter for the story that will provide “a new coda that won’t be found in the book”. CBS All Access exec Julie McNamara had the following to say about the addendum to the series:
For fans of the book who have wondered what became of the survivors of the stand, this episode will contain a story that takes us beyond the book to answer those questions.
The Stand takes place after a plague has wiped out most of the population of the earth and finds two camps of survivors headed toward a final conflict between good and evil. The story was previously adapted in 1994 as an eight-part mini-series on ABC that starred Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Miguel Ferrer, Ray Walston, Rob Lowe, and Matt Frewer.
Amazon to Develop Fast Color: Amazon is developing a TV series based on the 2018 science fiction film Fast Color. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description of the project:
The television series will follow Ruth, a former drug addict and runaway, who returns home and rediscovers the special powers she thought she lost, powers that her family have long kept hidden from the public. Three Generations of black women reconnect and as they learn more about themselves and the generations who came before, they begin to realize that one of them could save the world.
The film’s writers Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz will pen the pilot for the series and Amazon will likely be looking to add this to its original programming at some point in 2020.
Return of The Man Who Fell to Earth: CBS All Access is adapting The Man Who Fell to Earth as a TV series, based on the Walter Tevis novel and the 1976 film that starred David Bowie. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description:
The timely project will center on an alien who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.
The TV series adaptation was previously at Hulu but now moves to the CBS streaming service with Alex Kurtzman executive producing. This one will likely be targeting a 2020 debut.
Marvel Team-Up Headed to Hulu: Another team-up of Marvel superheroes is on the way as Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger will be crossing over with the upcoming third season of Hulu’s Runaways. The following tweet was sent out form the @Marvel account announcing the crossover:
A message from the stars of “@MarvelsRunaways” and “Marvel’s @CloakAndDagger“…https://t.co/ppVD8IwKdV pic.twitter.com/ItmTJadrpn
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) August 1, 2019
Both Freeform and Hulu are owned by Disney (and it will own you and me soon), so bringing the shows together definitely creates some synergies for the Mouse House. The third season of Runways debuts on December 13th. There is still no word on whether Cloak & Dagger will return for a third season.
HBO Maxes Out on Doctor Who: The upcoming WarnerMedia mega streaming service HBO Max will be bringing the infamous timelord onboard as part of its catalog of TV shows. The Doctor Who revival series, which started in 2005, will have the new streaming service as its exclusive home in the United States. Currently those episodes are available on Prime Video with a membership to Amazon Prime, but apparently they will shift to HBO Max in 2020. A classic Doctor Who channel is part of the Pluto TV streaming service and there is no word on whether those will shift to HBO Max at some point.
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