Ridley Scott sci-fi block replacing Shyamalan’s ‘Tales from the Crypt’

“Tales from the Crypt”. Image: Vimeo LLC via AFP Relaxnews

M. Night Shyamalan’s planned reboot of the anthology series “Tales from the Crypt” has become mired in legal rights issues, prompting host channel TNT to turn to Ridley Scott for sci-fi alternatives.

It’s back into cold storage for iconic TV anthology show “Tales From the Crypt”.

Early in 2016, a resurgent M. Night Shyamalan, fresh from the well-received low-budget feature “The Visit” and TV sci-fi mystery “Wayward Pines”, had teamed up with the TNT network to oversee a weekly two-hour schedule of horror-related material, including the classic series “Tales from the Crypt”.

That’s no longer to be, according to comments from TNT and TBS president Kevin Reilly, who updated Deadline Hollywood after an industry presentation earlier in May.

“That one got really caught up in a complete legal mess unfortunately with a very complicated underlying rights structure,” he explained, “We lost so much time, so I said, ‘Look, I’m not waiting around four years for this thing.'”

British director Ridley Scott. Image: Vimeo LLC via AFP Relaxnews

A horror block’s not off the table for all eternity—”we’re open to it,” Reilly said—but TNT isn’t waiting around. Sci-fi guru Ridley Scott, “who has so much creative enthusiasm,” has already been approached over alternative arrangements.

The proposed sci-fi programming block is anticipated for a 2018 launch, with pilots and series orders as possible outcomes of the project, while Scott could also become involved in a directorial capacity depending on how things turn out. JB

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