TNT Developing Multiple Horror TV Shows, Including Firestarter Spinoff
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For many years, cable network TNT's' tagline was "We Know Drama," but with a new focus on horror, suspense, sci fi, action and all things pulpy, it might as well be "We Know Genre." In truth, the slogan was changed in recent years to simply "TNT Drama" and now, apparently, the channel is expanding it to the unwieldy "TNT Drama...Boom" -- I suppose to more accurately represent the "explosive" nature of the content it will be airing.
Two projects in development at TNT should be of particular interest to horror fans. First, is The Shop, a spinoff of Stephen King's Firestarter whose title refers to the shadowy government agency -- officially the U.S. Department of Scientific Intelligence -- that served as the villain in the novel and the movie. The series is set 20 years after the events of King's story, with a now-adult Charlie McGee (played by Drew Barrymore in the 1984 film) joining a group of similarly skilled people with supernatural abilities resulting from experiments conducted by The Shop. They team with a former member of the agency to try to stop it from "unleashing terrifying new entities on the world."
Presumably, The Shop ignores the events of the 2002 Sci Fi Channel miniseries Firestarter: Rekindled, but you have to wonder if it will draw in the events of other King works that have included the ubiquitous Shop -- including The Stand, The Tommyknockers, The Langoliers and Golden Years. All in all, it sounds promising, like a Bizarro X-Files, in which the secret government agency creates the supernatural phenomena rather than investigating it.
Meanwhile, TNT is developing another series called Breed, for which we have a lot less to go on. It revolves around "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." So, there's that.
It's not a given that either of these shows will ever make it to air, so keep your fingers crossed and keep an eye on TNT...Boom!
Source: Deadline