AMC gave horror fans a lot to look forward to at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, announcing several in-the-works projects, including Shock Theatre, a sci-fi horror anthology series from director/executive producer Greg Nicotero:
Press Release: BEVERLY HILLS, CA – July 29, 2017 – AMC announced today from the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour a look at a current slate of select scripted and non-fiction projects in various stages of development for 2018 and beyond. New projects include many from existing AMC creative partners like “Better Call Saul” producers Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, “Talking Dead” host Chris Hardwick’s production company Fish Ladder, “The Walking Dead” executive producer, director and special FX make-up designer Greg Nicotero, and “Fear The Walking Dead” star Colman Domingo, among others. These seven scripted projects for potential series consideration are among a broad number of projects currently being developed as part of AMC’s “scripts-to-series” model, which the network has successfully utilized for forthcoming series “The Terror,” “Lodge 49” and “Dietland.”
“We are at our best when we bet on and support exceptional talent and this diverse development slate, from exceptional creators with distinct points of view, includes multiple projects from longstanding and successful AMC partners,” said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “Our deep pipeline of projects embodies our ‘eclectic by design,’ quality programming approach and our ‘scripts-to-series’ development model that puts the emphasis on the most important part of our strategy – outstanding writing, a commitment to worlds you’ve never seen on TV before, and rich character development.”
AMC’s upcoming development slate includes:
“Untitled Rainn Wilson Project”
Rainn Wilson, executive producer, actor
Naomi Odenkirk, executive producer
Marc Provissiero, executive producer
A Odenkirk Provissiero Production
Description: A one-hour scripted series that follows an alien entity which takes over the body of a poly-addicted, middle-aged man living in the San Fernando Valley.
Credits: Rainn Wilson: “Roadies” (Recurring Role) Showtime, “The Office” (Series regular, NW Producer) NBC, “Blackstrom” (Series Regular, NW Producer) FOX
Odenkirk Provissiero: “Better Call Saul” AMC
“Shock Theatre”
Greg Nicotero, director and executive producer
Matt Lambert, executive producer
Gail Berman, executive producer
Joe Earley, executive producer
A Jackal Group Production
Description: An anthology wherein each episode will be a brand-new sci-fi horror tale in the style of the B movie classics.
Credits: Greg Nicotero: “Fear The Walking Dead” (NWEP, Director) AMC, “The Walking Dead” (NWEP, Director) AMC
Matt Lambert: “Into The Badlands” (Co-producer) AMC, “South of Hell” (Co-EP, Creator)
WE tv
Jackal Group:Gail Berman “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again” (FBC), “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life” (FBC)
“Underbelly” by Dan Connolly
Dan Connolly, executive producer
A Fish Ladder Production (Chris Hardwick, Mike Clements)
Description: A deep dive into the dark-side of pop culture. Using the lens of the horror genre, this anthology explores storylines related to the fan experience, celebrity, greed, alienation, obsession and vanity. The sensibility of the series is darkly funny, shocking, subversive and trippy. If pop culture is a kind of new religion, this show is the deranged heretic who interrupts the service and gets thrown out.
Credits: Dan Connolly: “The Son” (Supervising Producer) AMC, “Into The Badlands” (Supervising Producer) AMC, “Colony” (Co-Producer) USA
“In The Middle Of The Street” by Colman Domingo
Colman Domingo, executive producer
Alisa Tager, executive producer
A Collider Entertainment Production
Inspired by Colman Domingo’s critically acclaimed play “Dot”
Description: A family in fading West Philadelphia must confront old secrets in order to face the challenges of their present. Inspired by Colman Domingo’s critically acclaimed play “Dot,” the series unflinchingly tackles aging parents, marriage, sexuality, and politics with humor and joy.
Credits:Colman Domingo: “Selma” (cast) Paramount Pictures, “Fear The Walking Dead” (Series regular) AMC, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” (cast) The Weinstein Company
Alisa Tager: “Arthur Newman” (Producer) Cross Creek Pictures
“Liking What You See” by Eric Heisserer
Eric Heisserer, executive producer
Ted Chiang, consultant
A Chernin Entertainment Production
Based on Ted Chiang’s short story “Liking What You See”
Eric Heisserer wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for the film “Arrival,” based on Ted Chiang’s short story Arrival.
Description: Set in a near future saturated with advertising and media images of beauty, the exception being the community of Saybrook, whose residents have all voluntarily adopted calliagnosia, a reversible, non-invasive procedure that eliminates their ability to perceive beauty. Once you have calliagnosia, no one looks prettier or uglier than anyone else; the people of Saybrook judge each other purely on their merits. But is this something the rest of the world is ready for?
Credits: Eric Heisserer: “Arrival” (Screenplay, EP) Paramount Pictures, “Lights Out” (Writer, Producer) New Line Cinema
Ted Chiang (Author/Consultant; Source Material “Story of Your Life” adapted into Arrival)
Chernin: “Hidden Figures” (Fox 2000), “New Girl” (FOX)
“The Age of Miracles” by Sinead Daly
Sinead Daly, executive producer
Karen Thompson Walker, Consultant
A 21 Laps Production
Description: Julia’s world is shifted, literally, when a shocking fact is made public: Earth’s rotation is suddenly, dramatically and inexplicably slowing down. As the days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, and people start falling sick to a mysterious new illness. Julia is also forced to cope with the normal disasters of everyday life as her parents’ marriage falls apart and she struggles with lost friends and first love.
Credits:Sinead Daly: “The Get Down” (Story Editor) Netflix, “Blue Bloods” (Staff Writer).
21 Laps: “Stranger Things,” “Table 19,” “Arrival,” “Why Him”
“Ballad Of Black Tom” by Victor LaValle
Victor LaValle, Co-executive producer
Based on the novella The Ballad Of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Description: Tommy Tester is a street musician and hustler in jazz age New York who works odd jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over his father’s head. But when he delivers an occult object to a reclusive sorceress, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and becomes caught up in a Lovecraftian conspiracy to conjure the destruction of the world.
Novel Credits: Victor LaValle: Big Machine, The Changeling, The Devil in Silver
“Wicked West” (Non-Fiction)
Producing Studio: Blumhouse Television (Jason Blum, Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman)
Description: Nonfiction horror anthology produced by Blumhouse Television (“Get Out,” “The Jinx” “Split”), “Wicked West” uncovers the most frightening and disturbing tales from the Wild West. And they’re all true. “Wicked West” utilizes Blumhouse’s chilling cinematic style on this weekly series, telling stories of sadistic serial killers, murderous black widows, bloodthirsty family clans and local legends laced with the supernatural. With a tense horror, modern cinematic style, “Wicked West” brings a haunting approach to the untold stories of the bloodbath known as the American West.
Credits: “The Jinx” (HBO); “The Normal Heart” (HBO); Judgement Day Prison or Parole; “Get Out” (film); “Split” (film); “Paranormal Activity” (film); “Insidious” (film); “The Purge” (film); “Ouija” (film); “Sinister” (film)
AMC recently opened writers’ rooms for the three projects under consideration for potential series orders: “NOS4A2” from Jami O’Brien (“Hell On Wheels,” “Fear the Walking Dead”); “Pandora,” from Sam Vincent & Jonathan Brackley (“Humans,” “MI-5”); and “Silent History,” from Claire Carré & Charles Spano, (“Embers”)
About AMC
AMC is home to some of the most popular and acclaimed programs on television. AMC was the first basic cable network to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series with “Mad Men” in 2008, which then went on to win the coveted award four years in a row, before “Breaking Bad” won it in 2013 and 2014. The network’s series “The Walking Dead” is the highest-rated series in cable history and the number one show on television among adults 18-49 for the last five years. AMC’s other current original drama series include “Better Call Saul,” “TURN: Washington’s Spies,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” “Humans,” “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Into the Badlands,” “The Night Manager,” “Preacher,” “The Son” and the forthcoming “The Terror,” “Lodge 49,” “Loaded” and “McMafia.” AMC also explores authentic worlds and discussion with original shows like “Talking Dead,” “Talking With Chris Hardwick,” “Comic Book Men,” and “Ride with Norman Reedus.” AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, SundanceTV, BBC America and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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