Gerry Anderson's UFO is heading to the big screen

Robert Evans is teaming with ITV Global on a feature film based on the 1970s British TV series "UFO." according to Variety.

Evans is producing with Avi Haas and Henri M. Kessler. Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek are penning a script.

The series debuted in 1970 and ran for three years, with characters created by Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlett). It was set in 1980 and revolves around S.H.A.D.O. (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a covert military organization that thwarts an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades, then using the body parts. Shado headquarters is hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, and the studio mogul, Ed Straker (played by Ed Bishop), is actually the Shado commander.

Unlike Anderson's other shows this was live action and a lot darker. The basic premise was that the alien invaders were abducting humans to use as involuntary organ transplant donors. A later episode, "The Cat with Ten Lives", contains a particularly sinister plot point which suggests that the UFO pilots are not humanoid aliens at all, but are in fact human abductees under the control of the alien intelligences. This suggests that the aliens may have no physical being themselves and therefore need a vehicle or container, meaning our human bodies, to incarnate.

The movie will be set in the year 2020.

The Robert Evans Co. has a first-look deal at Paramount, which will be first stop for the project. "We know the importance of the 'UFO' series brand to ITV Global, and we will work closely with them to build this into a franchise," Evans said.

by

Discuss in the forum

HOME