A genre icon of the '70s and '80s (and beyond), John Carpenter crafted some of the best cult classic films of those decades, having been responsible for such greats as Halloween, Escape from New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. Carpenter's work has influenced dozens, if not hundreds, of filmmakers over the years, and now fans of his more haunting work are in for a very awesome treat. The filmmaker and composer is now looking to join the age of Peak TV by developing two horror projects for the small screen.
Though John Carpenter has dabbled in many genres over his career, he is best known for his work in horror and science fiction, having scared and grossed out moviegoers with Michael Meyers and The Thing's titular threat. So, when Carpenter gets involved in developing some horror television shows, that's something you're going to want to pay attention to, especially when one of the projects is adapting his own work. One of those projects he's currently developing is an adaptation of his own graphic novel, Tales for a Halloween Night, for Syfy.
The award-winning Tales for a Halloween Night is an anthology series bringing together storytellers from movies, novels, and comics for a collection of horror-based tales centered on everything from graveyards to sunken ships. The TV version will likely follow suit, though it is not confirmed if the graphic novel stories will be directly adapted, creating new ones, or both. The in-development project will air on Syfy, though no release window is available, as no writer has been attached yet.
The second project John Carpenter is working on is called Nightside, based on the literary series by New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green. The novels take place in Nightside, a fictional hidden city in London where supernatural entities and futuristic science-fiction technology co-exist, and it's also a place where one can indulge in the darker aspects of their nature. The project is being written by Jill Blotevogel, of MTV's Scream, and does not yet have a channel to call its home.
Both of these projects were announced as John Carpenter and his production partner Sandy King reached an overall development deal with Universal Cable Productions. The filmmaker will executive produce new scripted programming for NBCUniversal, obviously beyond just what's here, as well as projects for external networks and streaming services.
Both projects sound promising, and with John Carpenter directly involved, they will likely get plenty of attention from big networks and big genre stars as they get closer to landing in the primetime hours. There are never too many horror anthology shows, especially if great creative talent is attached to it. Will Carpenter also compose any of the music for these projects? One can only dream.
Again, there's no premiere dates yet for either of these projects, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all your TV news updates. To better plan out you summer, here's our TV summer premiere guide. To learn about all the shows that have been cancelled or renewed, check out our network and streaming/cable guides.
