A&E passes on James Wong’s Occult

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We have been keeping close tabs on the potential A&E series "Occult", which was being developed by "X-Files" alum James Wong and was set to star Daniel Henney, Brennan Brown, Josh Lucas, Lynn Collins and Agnes Brucker and was being produced by Michael Bay. Now TVWire is reporting that A&E has decided to pass on the hour-long which has been in development at A&E since mid-2012 and received a cast-contingent pilot order in September 2012. Bummer!

Production got underway this year and the pilot was recently delivered to the network. According to TVWire, "Occult" was well received by executives but following the pick up of "Those Who Kill", and the renewals of "Longmire" and fan favorite "Bates Motel", A&E brass felt that the proposed project was not in “a direction we wanted to pursue.”

The news comes after A&E announced last month that they are developing an adaptation of the French series "The Returned" (aka Les Revenants), which is being produced in house by the recently launched A+E Studios.

Created by James Wong, Occult centers on a FBI agent who returns from administrative leave after going off the deep end while investigating his wife’s disappearance. Eager to be back on the job, he is paired with an agent with her own complicated backstory who specializes in the occult. Together, they will solve cases for the newly formed occult crimes task force.