TNT Developing Firestarter Sequel And Time Travel Drama Fix-It Men
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It’s been three and a half decades since Stephen King published his 1980 paranormal thriller Firestarter, and since then it’s been adapted into a fondly remembered (by me at least) 1984 film starring Drew Barrymore, David Keith, and George C. Scott, and an easily forgettable 2002 Sci-Fi Channel TV movie starring Marguerite Moreau, Dennis Hopper, and Malcolm McDowell. Now TNT is headed back to the well with The Shop, a sequel series that picks up 20 years after the events of Firestarter.
In The Shop, the pyrokinetic Charlie McGee is contacted by Henry Talbot, a former member of the titular organization, who reveals that The Shop is alive and well. Even worse, its continuing experiments are unleashing all manner of nasty stuff into the world. Charlie is reluctantly convinced to partner up with Talbot and others to try and bring down the Shop and their creations once and for all.
The Shop is written and produced by Robbie Thompson, who previously wrote for Supernatural, Human Target, and even one episode of Jericho back in 2007. On the producer side, we’ve got James Middleton (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Jaime Paglia (Eureka).
Also in the works at TNT is a time travel series called Fix-It Men. It’s about a team from 2027 who travel back to our present to try and prevent a war from their time from ever happening. Unfortunately, something goes wrong and they wind up stuck in 2014 Manhattan. I’m presuming altering the future won’t be a quick and easy fix, otherwise Fix-It Men will have one hell of a short run. It definitely sounds a bit like Syfy’s Continuum. That’s a compliment, but it also sets a high bar for Fix-It Men to hurdle.
Fix-It Men seems to be the same project that was previously in development with ABC Studios last year. It was written by John Glenn (Eagle Eye) and Joe Carnahan (The Grey), who is also directing.
That’s not all. TNT is also developing a supernatural drama called Breed, focused on “a volatile race of creatures who are committing brutal murders in the Pacific Northwest and the reluctant FBI investigator who pairs with a female assassin to track them.” Sounds very X-Files-y. John Scott Shepherd (Save Me) is writing and producing.
Last but not least, we’ve got Kali, from Harley Peyton (Dracula, Twin Peaks). It’s about a woman who wakes up on a train with no memory of who she is. To make things more complicated, somebody’s implanted a chip in her head that turns her into a living weapon. (That old chestnut.) Unfortunately she’s also caught between two warring teams who want what she’s got in her noggin’. Sounds like a gender-switched Chuck, but taking itself more seriously. (Well, Intelligence clearly worked out so well…)
So there you have it. TNT hasn’t been a huge haven for science fiction, but it’s found some success with Falling Skies, which returns for a fourth season next month, and they’ve got the post-apocalyptic military drama The Last Ship bowing soon as well. Hopefully some of these new shows will make it to screen and prove to be worth our while.
