Disney has tapped Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright to helm their remake of the seminal 70s science-fantasy-horror show, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
According to Deadline, Disney is has approached the Scott Pilgrim Vs The World director with a view to developing a modern take on the classic show as a vehicle for co-producer and Pirates of the Caribbean star, Johnny Depp.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker featured Darren ''Fra-jee-lay'' McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a down-at-heel tabloid reporter with an unnatural gift for sniffing-out outre stories - usually involving werewolves, vampires and other ghostly goings on.
Although Kolchak only appeared in two TV movies and a twenty-episode run (the show was actually cancelled before the entire season was filmed), the show remained hugely popular in the collective memory and is cited as, among other things, a major influence on The X Files, with Chris Carter even creating the character of proto-Mulder Arthur Dales for McGavin in tribute of the show's influence.
ABC resurrected the series in 2005 with Stuart Townsend taking over the role but it failed to find an audience (US viewers can watch the entire series at Hulu and judge for themselves.) How this new version will take is anybody's guess - especially given that the show's horror themes will need to be tailored for a family audience. But hey, they managed to make four movies from an amusement park ride...
Now this is exciting for me as am a huge fan of the original tv show and Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors. Between him doing this and him being in the Dark Shadows movie(another one of my favorite tv shows)it's a big win for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how they'll handle the Disney mandates on content but it could be interesting.
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