If you were a big fan of the 80s sci-fi mini-series and TV series V, hold on to your alien hats; we've got some awesome news coming your way. After several years of trying to bring the once popular sci-fi series V back to the small-screen as a TV movie or mini-series through the efforts of show creator Kenneth Johnson, it's looking more likely that V - which starred Marc Singer, Jennifer Cooke, Michael Ironside, Robert Englund, Faye Grant, and Jane Badler - might be coming to a theater near you.
Late Wednesday afternoon The Deadbolt had the amazing good fortune to talk to legendary and groundbreaking TV writer, director, and creator Kenneth Johnson about his writing/directorial work on the popular cult TV series Alien Nation and the five subsequent movies from the 1990s. Although Johnson was on the line to promote the upcoming Alien Nation Movie Collection, due out on DVD April 15, we managed to get some fantastic news for all of you fans who have been waiting for the return of V, the popular sci-fi mini-series that Johnson created back in the 1980s that become an instant cult hit before it disappeared into the TV ether only to reappear in novel form. During the call, our own Troy Rogers, who was a huge fan of the original V, asked Kenny about the status of V: The Second Generation, which Johnson's been trying to get off the ground for a few years and would expand on the original series and subsequent novel.
So, what's the status of V: The Second Generation? Well, it looks like Kenny is thinking big, like big-screen and franchise big. Not just one theatrical movie that would remake the original, but two sequels, and the process is already underway to get things going in a forward motion. AND, given the advances in technology since the original mini-series aired in 1983, it looks like Johnson might be able to do a lot more than he ever dreamed of when he first created the show.
Although the process is still ongoing, details are being worked on, and nothing's been finalized, here's what Kenneth Johnson had to say about the future of V and V: The Second Generation:
"... since I own the motion picture rights to V, we’re in the process to do a remake of the original mini-series first as a theatrical feature, which I’m so jazzed about because it will give me an opportunity to really realize it and execute it in a way that was impossible to do back then. Then that will lead to the obvious sequel, because it is a franchise, and then we’ll get into The Second Generation and I'm hoping we’ll be able to do two movies, because there’s certainly enough material in the novel to warrant two separate sequels. That’s my goal at this point and that’s what we’re in the process of doing. I just literally came from a meeting, 15-20 minutes ago with a fellow in Beverly Hills who really says that we’re gonna do it."Like we said, a lot can happen and nothing's final, but we'd love to see a remixed, remastered, and revamped V on the big screen. We hope it happens, wish Kenny all the best, and can't wait to see someone give birth to an alien baby like one of the characters did on the show back in the day. It was one of the coolest moments in '80s sci-fi TV.
For our complete interview with the legendary Kenneth Johnson, check back later this week to find out how Alien Nation got started as a TV series, the show's approach to its social conscious themes, how all five Alien Nation movies got off the ground, and more on V: The Second Generation and the real story on what happened to the long-forgotten-but-amazingly-cool Cliffhangers series from the '70s that Kenny also created.
-- Reg Seeton
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