A series version of the David Cronenberg film “Scanners” is in development at HBO, Variety has confirmed.
Per the official description, the series is “set in the mind-bending world of David Cronenberg’s seminal film. Pursued by relentless agents with unimaginable powers, two women living on the fringes of modern society must learn to work together to topple a vast conspiracy determined to bring them to heel.”
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William Bridges (“Black Mirror,” “Stranger Things”) will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on the series. Yann Demange (“’71,” “Lovecraft Country) will direct and executive produce via Wayward Films. Cronenberg, who wrote and directed the original film, will serve as an executive producer. Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer will executive produce on behalf of Media Res Studio. Meredith Duff and Sarah Sullivan of Wayward Films will also executive produce along with René Malo and Fanny-Laure Malo, Pierre David, Clark Peterson, and Aaron Gilbert. The show is a co-production between HBO, Media Res Studio, and Wayward Films. Media Res first announced they were working on the series version of “Scanners” in 2017.
Should the “Scanners” series go forward, it would be the second series adaptation of one of Cronenberg’s films in recent years. Amazon is currently prepping a series version of his film “Dead Ringers” with Rachel Weisz in the dual lead roles as a pair of twin sisters.
“Scanners” was originally released in 1981. The film followed a man who discovers he is one of 237 “scanners” — people with incredible psychic powers — after he is recruited by a private military contractor to stop an evil scanner named Revok (Michael Ironside). The film also starred Stephen Lack, Jennifer O’Neill, and Patrick McGoohan among others. It went on to achieve cult status, particularly for the infamous sequence in which a scanner’s head explodes. Four sequel films have since been released, though Cronenberg was involved with none of them.
There had been talks of a series version produced by Dimension Films in 2011 as well as a new film reboot, though none of those projects ultimately came to pass.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke news of the “Scanners” series.
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