When we talk about "a multi-billion dollar movie franchise and [a] merchandising monster," the first thing that comes to mind isn't necessarily V, visitors. Yet this is what Steven Posen, executive vice president of the production company Desilu, recently spoke about it at the publication DigitalSpy. Behind this overflow of enthusiasm: the announcement of the adaptation in three big-budget films of the science fiction universe created in 1983 by Kenneth Johnson.
The story of V traces the arrival on earth of charming alien humanoids, generously dispensing the benefits of superior technology. But very soon (about twenty minutes in the 2009 series…), a group of humans discover that the visitors are in fact a race of cannibalistic reptilians whose goodness is only intended to deceive the human race to better devour it. The story then makes it possible to stick to the fundamentals of alien science fiction, against a background of mass brainwashing.
NBC, ABC, CBS,…
Series initially launched on the NBC network in 1983, the group had passed the torch to ABC for the remake of 2009, interrupted after a second season deemed disappointing by the network. Through the company Desilu, it is actually the CBS network that is behind the new announcement. John Hermansen (Gray Matters) and Barry Opper (Jeepers Creepers) will join Johnson for production. The transition to cinema is not an obvious choice when we examine the filmography of the latter, thirty achievements on television, against one, unfortunate, in cinema.
In 2009, some journalists wanted to see the series as a criticism of the Obama administration. While the team denied having a political undertone, Johnson did not fail to describe his work as "timeless and at once modern, a story of resistance to tyranny". Perhaps the timing is better.
