TV
Paul W.S. Anderson Developing “Mimic” Television Series for Miramax
Paul W.S. Anderson is on board to executive produce and direct the pilot episode of a “Mimic” television series, Deadline reports tonight, which will adapt the same Donald A. Wollheim-penned short story that Guillermo del Toro brought to the big screen in 1997.
The project is set up at Miramax Television, with Jim Danger Gray (“Orange is the New Black,” “Hannibal”) on board to write, executive produce and serve as showrunner.
“Mimic revolves around genetically engineered insects who evolve, developing the ability to mimic their human prey, and the race to stop them from taking over.”
“Mimic explores, on its surface, the idea of insects taking over,” Gray said in a statement. “Body horror, the anxiety of ‘a bug’ living inside of us, the death of truth, the denial of science and the rise of personal entitlement are at the heart of our show as it examines how society is eaten alive by an invasion that is laying bare its greatest insecurities and failures.”
The potential series is being shopped to buyers soon, Deadline notes.
Del Toro’s movie was followed by two sequels.
Production on season two of “Alien: Earth” has begun in London, and Deadline reports that Tracey Ullman (“Tracey Ullman’s Show“), Sam Spruell (“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms“), and Jerome Flynn (“Game of Thrones“) have joined the cast.
They join previously announced series newcomer Peter Dinklage.
No character details have been divulged so far.
“Alien: Earth” Season 2 is shooting at the historic Pinewood Studios — home of the original Alien as well as Aliens, Alien 3, and Prometheus. The show’s new production designer, Neil Lamont, is the son of Alien production designer Peter Lamont.
Set in the year 2120, five corporations wield the power of nations, and proprietary advancements in technology provide the promise of a new tomorrow. When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.
The second season “certainly expands on the promise of the first,” according to series creator Noah Hawley (“Fargo,” “Legion”). “It’s a bigger show, more world-building, and I can’t think of a better place for taking on that bigger challenge.”
Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adrian Edmondson, David Rysdahl, Essie Davis, Lily Newmark, Erana James, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Kit Young, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El, and Sandra Yi Sencindiver star.
Also on the way from Noah Hawley? A remake of Argentine horror film Terrified for Warner Bros.
Stay tuned for more on “Alien: Earth” season two now that production has begun.