While it is almost impossible to follow in the footsteps of Terry Gilliam‘s brilliant 12 MONKEYS, SyFy is going to attempt it with a limited series that begins airing this month. The new version changes things up with gender swaps for characters (Brad Pitt‘s Jeffrey Goines is now Jennifer Goines) and a different series of events. But, at the core, it is still a time travel thriller about an apocalyptic virus.
Ahead of the premiere next week, SyFy has made the first 9 minutes of the pilot available and you can watch it now via the embed below.
12 Monkeys follows the journey of a time traveler from the post-apocalyptic future who is on a mission to eradicate the source of a deadly plague. The series stars Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull, Noah Bean, and Kirk Acevedo. Additional cast members include Tom Noonan as the enigmatic face of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, and Emily Hampshire as Jennifer Goines, a dangerous and unstable mental patient.
It is almost impossible to watch this clip and not be let down, but again it is only the first nine minutes of an episode. There is some good setup, but for fans of the film version of 12 MONKEYS, this doesn’t seem to bring all that much to the table. Still, I am intrigued enough to give it a shot. SyFy tends to get shit on because of their schlocky original films, but series like HELIX, HAVEN, and the mini-series ASCENSION have shown a higher level of quality than you may have expected.
12 MONKEYS begins airing on SyFy on Friday, January 16th.
