M. Night Shyamalan's 'Tales from the Crypt' Might Mirror Masterpiece Theater
Fans may even get the chance to be part of the storytelling.
Nostalgia continues to rule the current television era, bringing back much-loved gems and a few forgettable titles along the way. M. Night Shyamalan’s Tales from the Crypt is setting up to join the ranks, with spins and twists on the storytelling that are nothing short of ambitious. During a Sunday evening TCA event, TNT and TBS President Kevin Reilly addressed the crowd on what TNT plans to do with the series, and what fans can expect.
One stand-out factoid is that the production is aiming for a much longer show than the original TV series (which was inspired by a comic book) and that the creative ways that Shyamalan’s team wants to create the show are causing a few legal troubles. Regardless, Reilly seemed optimistic about the show on Sunday. “There’s going to be a half-hour anthology and then a one-hour original show with some shorts in between,” said Reilly. “So it’s part of a whole block.”
“The original half-hour, sort of slightly comedic, kind of twisted [story] that Night himself is going to direct will be a part of it every week,” Reilly told Slashfilm. “Then we���re going to have rotating original one-hours. Then we’ve got shorts that’ll be part of it too.” The format only slightly mirrors the original’s half-hour anthology, which aired on HBO between 1989 and 1996. But what stands out is the involvement of fans, and the huge roadblocks that exist already for the production.
Reilly says that several of the shorts will be “crowdsourced” from fans using WattPad. “I don’t even think we’ve announced this yet but we are working with Wattpad and ultimately I’d like some material to come from [viewers],” Reilly explained. But because of the way the show’s rights are divided, that might be slightly harder to achieve. “We have some Guild issues we need to work out on this, but I’d like fan fiction to essentially make its way to our air.”
Should everything work out, Reilly says that the series will release in “late 2017” — so get those keyboards ready, fic writers.
