Whitley Strieber’s Alien Hunter Adaptation Gets Straight To Series Order From Syfy
This article is more than 2 years old
Syfy is going through something of a reinvention. Over the last few years they’ve gone from being an oasis of genre programing to filling their schedule with schlocky, poorly made creature features, reality TV shows, and even professional wrestling, which, though definitely outlandish at times, has little to nothing to do with science fiction. That’s changing, however. The network is making a hard push at getting back in the original sci-fi content game, broadcasting the Canadian hit Continuum, debuting Helix earlier this year, Z Nation just premiered, and they have an insane slate of shows in various stages of development. And now they’re adding one more notable title.
Deadline reports that Syfy has given the alien drama Hunters, which is only a working title at this point, a 13-episode straight-to-series order. Based on Whitley Strieber’s best-selling novel Alien Hunter, also not a particularly good name, the series is also bringing along super producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, Terminator 2, and far too many genre favorites to mention) for the ride. Natalie Chaidez, who worked on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Heroes, and V, among others, is handling the writing duties and will also help with the executive producing duties. All of that taken together, you understand why the network gave it the go ahead so fast.
Alien Hunter tells the story of the disappearance of a Philadelphia detective’s wife. She just goes missing one night, no reason, no explanation, she’s never seen again. The protagonist, Flynn Carroll, becomes obsessed, looking into similar occurrences across the country, and he finds that someone is taking people and making it look like they life on their own (or, you know, they’re just leaving). This leads him to a secret government agency who is tracking the same thing, and what it turns out their after may not even originate on Earth. You probably guessed that from the title, though, didn’t you? You can be forgiven if you think this has an X-Files strand of DNA to it, because it does. That’s not bad thing, but you just know that there is going to be some serious conspiracy action going on.
Dave Howe, Syfy’s President, says, “We were so impressed by the pilot script from this outstanding and accomplished creative team led by Gale Anne Hurd and Natalie Chaidez. This fast-paced and innovative program takes viewers inside a chilling yet all-too-familiar world.”
As we’re in the very early stages, there’s no concrete date for when we could see Hunters, hopefully after a name change, but with this on the fast track, Syfy hopes to debut the series in 2016, probably early in the year.
