'Saw' Sequels Writers Approaching 'The Outer Limits'

As bad as it is over at MGM, the company is still moving forward. Not on everything, of course; James Bond is in limbo, I'm not committing to anything Hobbit for the time being, RoboCop and Poltergeist are probably dead, and Red Dawn may be shoved to next year or something. So - surprise, surprise - here comes another project the studio probably can't finish. Variety reveals that the billions-in-debt MGM has hired Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, writers of better than half the Saw franchise, to put a new spin on the 1960s TV series, The Outer Limits. It was a reaction to The Twilight Zone, which was certainly the better and more enduring program, but I do have some fond memories of the occasional Outer Limits episode, as well. The show featured some big names, in retrospect: Harlan Ellison, Robert Towne, Joseph Stefano, Conrad L. Hall. However, it barely made it to the two-season mark and then lived on in syndication. You can watch all the episodes on the Hulu if you're so inclined. This is probably not a good sign, but MGM and the writers can't even agree on when they were hired. Maybe it's just semantics, but Dunstan and Melton say they were brought in weeks ago, and while The Lion acknowledges that's when the writers got paid, it asserts that the deal was made "well before" the studio's current financial state. That could mean nine months ago, though, because MGM put itself up for sale in November. Still, it's strange that the studio would look to tackle another project with some brand name recognition after ditching several such projects already, and to reach out to two guys who have essentially written the same horror movie four times to totally overhaul a sci-fi anthology.

Comments

[Ravenwood]

I would love to see "The Outer Limits" brought back, and done right! The previous revival had none of the 'feel' of the original series. I'd like to see a new Outer Limits that brings back the "atmosphere" of the old shows. Even with the inclusion of the old Dominic Frontiere music score would be GREAT!
Let's hope this goes well!

[Steve W.]

>The Twilight Zone ...was certainly the better and more enduring program....

Of course, anybody who actually bothered to watch The Outer Limits would know it's of at least equal stature to The Twilight Zone. The fact that it ran for a shorter period of time makes it all the more remarkable that there were so many great episodes, more than any other TV show that I can think of.