Last night, I was utterly shocked to hear the news that Wes Craven had passed away. It came out of nowhere. He had given no indication that he was battling cancer and remained active up until the end, interacting with fans on social media, giving comments on projects he was involved with, and working on new ones. Just four months ago, Craven had signed a first-look deal with Universal Cable Productions and started developing three television projects for them.
In a statement made to Deadline, UCP has announced that, although Craven is gone, those projects will keep moving forward.
"Wes Craven was a master artist, a gentleman, and it was our pleasure to work with him. It is our intention to bring to life all the projects Wes developed at Universal Cable Productions. Thankfully these projects have benefitted greatly from his development and guidance since their inception. They will continue in his honor and spirit."
The three series Craven was working on for UCP are an expansion of the ideas behind his 1991 film THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (pictured below), an adaptation of the Daryl Gregory novel WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE, and an adaptation of the Steve Niles graphic novel DISCIPLES.
The new take on THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS is being written by Michael Reisz and is described as "a contemporary DOWNTON ABBEY meets THE AMITYVILLE HORROR". It has the following synopsis:
When a young woman goes missing at the grand Robeson Family Manor, her search unveils the centuries-old horrors that lie deep within the estate.
That project is set up at Syfy, as is WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE. Craven was writing the adaptation of Gregory's prose and was considering directing the pilot as well. The story centers on
Dr. Jan Sayer, an enigmatic psychologist who gathers survivors of five horror-movie scenarios in a support group – and unwittingly unlocks the evils of her patients’ pasts. As their traumas are brought back to the surface, they uncover which monsters they face are within — and which are lurking in plain sight.
A network has yet to get involved with DISCIPLES,
a sci-fi horror story set in the near future where the ultra-wealthy have become true masters of the universe, colonizing moons throughout the solar system.
It will be interesting to see how these projects end up turning out. It's good to know that Craven's last works will continue to be built upon, and it's a shame that he won't be here to see them come to fruition.
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