Alex Aja developing a Scanners TV series with Dimension

It may be cliche to say this, but reading this news may make you feel like your head is going to explode, just like one of the victims in SCANNERS. Dimension Films and PIRANHA 3D director Alex Aja are developing a TV drama based on David Cronenberg’s classic SCANNERS. As the tagline once said, “10 Seconds: The Pain Begins. 15 Seconds: You Can’t Breathe. 20 Seconds: You Explode.”

Dimension had nothing to do with the original SCANNERS, released back in 1981 by Embassy Pictures, but bought the rights a few years back with the hopes of remaking the film (as the Weinsteins are clearly fans of doing). David Goyer was brought in to write a new script but the project never got off the ground. Bob Weinstein, who runs Dimension, got the bright idea to develop SCANNERS like a “Walking Dead” TV series and brought in frequent collaborator Aja to develop the film and direct the pilot.

The series is being described as a “drama” but I can’t imagine a SCANNERS TV series without at least a little bit of horror elements to it. The series would seemingly pick up the battle between the telekinetic Scanners looking to take over the world and the underground movement, led by a powerful scanner gone rogue, to take them down.

So….I guess it’s better than a remake, right? I mean, the last Cronenberg series, “The Dead Zone,” actually wasn’t that bad but something just seems off about this. What’re your thoughts?