It was back in July when we learned that Syfy was hoping to get a TV series based on Terry Gilliam's 12 MONKEYS off the ground. After staying pretty quiet for the last month, news has come in that the pilot has gotten the all important green light. The 60-minute cast-contingent pilot is being produced by Universal Cable Productions and Atlas Entertainment, producer of the original Bruce Willis-Brad Pitt theatrical version.
12 MONKEYS follows the journey of a time traveler from the post-apocalyptic future who appears in present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will eventually decimate the human race.
There's no doubt a great story to be told with that kind of set up, but this is also coming from the same channel that brought us SHARKNADO which depending on how you look at it, could be good or bad. What made Gilliam's film work so well in the first place was the crazy performances and off the wall camerawork, so it will be interesting to see if they try to apply that same style to the series.
Production is set to begin in November with Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett ("Terra Nova," "Nikita"), who wrote the pilot script, serving as co-executive producers. Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven (AMERICAN HUSTLE, MAN OF STEEL, THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy) and Richard Suckle (AMERICAN HUSTLE, THE INTERNATIONAL) will executive produce. Roven produced the original film.