As you probably well know by now, 20th Century Fox passed on turning Joe Hill’s “Locke & Key” into a series after viewing its pilot. Sporting names like Miranda Otto, Nick Stahl and Jesse McCartney in the lead roles, it a pretty prestigious behind-the-camera pedigree, including director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO), producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (COWBOYS AND ALIENS, “Fringe”) and executive producer Steven Spielberg. Fox attempted to shop the pilot to other networks after it got the thumbs down, but it just didn’t catch on, and appears to be a dead project through and though.
However, in a fairly unprecedented maneuver made by Fox and the publisher behind the comic, IDW, the pilot for “Locke & Key” will be screened at Comic Con, for all interested parties to see. A rare move, as most pilots that don’t get picked up are usually tossed in the garbage bin, never to be heard from again.
IDW wrote in a statement: “This one-time-only screening of the entire pilot will show you just what a void there will be on your TVs this fall.”
Perhaps there’s a slight chance that Fox – or some other network – will be swayed if the reaction at Comic Con is massively positive, but that’s a very slight chance. More likely, this will just be an interesting curio for fans of the comics; a peek at what might have been.
The screening will take place on July 22nd at 10:30 AM; it will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Joe Hill, illustrator Gabriel Rodriguez, the pilot’s writer/executive producers Josh Friedman, Kurtzman and Orci.
“Locke & Key” star Sarah Bolger
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