Scanners being developed as a TV series

By Sean O'Neal | July 22, 2011 | 8:23pm

Aux Features TV

The Weinstein Company’s plan to double- or even triple-down on every recognizable property in its vault now includes a TV adaptation of Scanners, David Cronenberg’s eerie 1981 sci-fi horror film about a group of people with enhanced telekinetic and telepathic abilities, the ominous corporation out to exploit them, and all the spooky staring contests they get into. As you may recall, Bob Weinstein and his Dimension shingle have been looking to do something with Scanners for years now, first attempting to mount a remake in 2007 with screenwriter David S. Goyer (a project that died a quiet death), and then announcing again in 2009 his intention to do something with it in one of his many emetic expulsions of planned reboots and sequels. Now it seems as though he’s decided a drama series in the vein of The Walking Dead would be the best option, so he’s brought in The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha 3-D director Alexandre Aja to help him develop it.

Of course, as disheartening as the Weinsteins’ newfound preference for rehashing the original ideas of yesteryear rather than developing anything of their own has become, we begrudgingly have to admit that the world of Scanners could definitely accommodate a TV show—one we might even be supportive of, depending on whatever showrunner Aja and Weinstein pick to handle it. And besides, it’s not as though the series could possibly do any more damage to the property than was already done by that early-’90s flood of shitty sequels and knock-offs like Scanner Cop. Still, Cronenberg’s name is nowhere near this (and so far neither is Michael Ironside’s, for that matter), which could be enough to make your head explode.