MTV developing War of the Worlds TV show instead of music videos

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Huh. That's not news I think anyone was suspecting to hear today. Don't get me wrong, we should have suspected it with all these films (i.e. EXORCIST, LETHAL WEAPON, 12 MONKEYS, WESTWORLD) being turned into TV shows, but this one just seems out there. Especially for MTV. (And even if its based on a book, most people know of it from the '50s version or the Spielberg remake).

I mean whatever, hell, the idea could work…in the sense that any idea could work. If someone could make a Sundance darling out of Harry Potter farting for two hours and have it actually be emotionally-affecting at the same time, sure, you could make a WAR OF THE WORLDS TV show on MTV. However, the fact that the producer of TEEN WOLF is spearheading the project doesn't give me a ton of confidence, but who knows.

There's not much more news on the project – like cast, release date, or plot synopsis – other than the announcement. However, I'm concerned about two major things right off the bat: a) how are you going to do the massive destruction necessary for the story on a cable-TV budget (even if the '50s version wasn't as bombastic as Spielberg's remake, it still was super-expensive for its time), and b) how are you going to (SPOILER) make the aliens dying of the sniffles not anti-climatic after (presumably, if it's picked up and successful) tens of hours of story? That would be more of a cop-out than LOST's awful "the sideways universe is Heaven" reveal, or ALF being taken by government agents with no resolution. You could change the ending, but I always felt it was kind of the point of the story.

Again, who knows, I'll keep an open mind. MTV shows are hit-and-miss, but when they're hit you get awesome things like BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD, CLONE HIGH, and THE MAXX. So we'll see. 

What do you guys think? And what movie do you think would actually make a good TV adaptation?