8 Horror Movie TV Series Adaptations That Didn’t Quite Work Out
John Squires
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5) THE LOST BOYS
This next one is a little bit different because it’s a project that never actually got off the ground in any shape or form. After the release of the Lost Boys sequel, The Tribe, in 2008, Corey Feldman began teasing that not only was a second sequel in the works, but a TV series centering around the Frog Brothers was also on the table. Apparently the plan was to have Feldman and Jamison Newlander reprise their roles of Edgar and Alan Frog, and the series was said to be in the same vein as “Supernatural.”
These rumors persisted for the next few years, Feldman continuing to tease the series while out promoting 2010’s The Lost Boys: The Thirst, the franchise’s second direct-to-video sequel. Last we heard, Warner Bros. shut down Warner Premiere, who had been handling the Lost Boys property, which spelled the end of all future sequel and series plans. “The Frog Brothers are homeless at the moment,” said Feldman back in 2013.
6) THE OMEN
After three sequels to the classic horror film The Omen, ending with 1991’s made-for-TV Omen 4: The Awakening, the plan in 1995 was to rejuvenate the popular franchise by spinning it off into its own TV series. Directed by Freddy’s Revenge filmmaker Jack Scholder, the pilot episode – simply titled “The Omen” – aired on Fox on September 8, 1995. Though the series was produced by original Omen director Richard Donner, it didn’t actually have anything to do with the films aside from sharing a name.
The pilot centered on a strange entity that uses humans as its host, a la Jason Goes to Hell, and the series failed to generate enough interest to be picked up. It has never been seen or heard from since it originally aired, and Donner has publicly expressed his displeasure with having his name attached.
The Omen finally heads to the small screen next year in the form of “Damien,” a sequel to the original classic that will air on A&E.
7) TREMORS: THE SERIES
1990’s Tremors spawned three sequels between 1996 and 2004, with another one headed our way this year. After 2001’s Back to Perfection, and while production was under way on 2004’s The Legend Begins, those pesky Graboids made the leap from film to television, starring in “Tremors: The Series.” The 13-episode series premiered on Syfy in March of 2003 and nabbed fairly respectable ratings.
Taking place after the events of Back to Perfection, the series again starred Michael Gross as Burt Gummer and focused on the residents of Perfection Valley attempting to live with a Graboid underneath their town – at the end of the third film, Burt and the gang leave an albino Graboid called El Blanco alive, an endangered species that seems to only want to consume those who deserve it.
Many fans will remember that Syfy totally botched the airing of the series, presenting the episodes completely out of order and leaving everyone highly confused. Though all 13 episodes were aired, the series was cancelled before it even wrapped up, and it was finally made available on DVD in 2010. Thankfully, all of the episodes were presented in the proper order for the DVD release.
8) ZOMBIELAND: THE SERIES
Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick originally developed the story as a spec script for a TV series back in 2005. When Ruben Fleischer came on board the project, he helped them turn the idea into a feature film, which was of course directed by Fleischer and released to big box office numbers in 2009.
After years of on and off sequel rumors, Amazon announced back in 2013 that Zombieland would be returning to its original roots, premiering the pilot episode of “Zombieland: The Series” in April of that year. Written by Reese and Wernick, with new actors playing the four main characters from the film, the 30-minute pilot was put together in an effort to generate fan interest in the series – Amazon promising that they’d pick it up for a full season run if the interest was there.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the pilot was pretty fun, there just wasn’t enough interest, and “Zombieland: The Series” was not picked up by Amazon. A true sequel to the film still eludes us.
Which of these do you wish had been given more of a chance? And which ones are better off dead? Comment below and let us know!
