The horror comic anthology that shook the world by its terrifying, gore, nudity content which led to its closure, Tales from the Crypt by EC Comics will once again be seen on the small screen thanks to TNT. Rebooting the classic series is M Night Shyamalan, the Indian-American film director, screenwriter and producer who has earlier worked on many contemporary supernatural plot movies like The Last Airbender, After Earth and The Visit.
The show will be based on the original Tales from the Crypt series that were published by EC Comics by William Gaines back in 1950s. The title closed down in 1955 due to complaints from parents, clergymen, schoolteachers and others as they believed that the books contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. By that time it had produced a total of 27 issues (excluding the initial three issues, #17-19, published as The Crypt of Terror) , before ceasing publication with its February/March 1955 issue (#46).
From then on it got many revivals out of which HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, became a cult show and got seven seasons with a total of 93 episodes. And now after more than a decade, the horror anthology is set to fright the audiences this fall, this time on TNT network.
The programme will be a two hour block of horror and suspense content that will air once a week. The block will feature both short and long form content, with the new Tales from the Crypt the centrepiece offering not only stories based on the original EC Comics but also new tales as well. Shyamalan will exec produce each of the tales with his partner at Binding Edge Pictures, Ashwin Rajan. Endgame Entertainment’s James D. Stern (Looper) is exec producing along with Aloris Entertainment’s John Santilli and Dan McKinnon.
“This is a new genre for us in our series efforts and a great chance to partner with M Night Shyamalan, whose blockbuster hit The Visit reminded movie audiences and critics this past summer that he truly is a master of horror,” said TNT EVP of original programming Sarah Aubrey.
Shyamalan recently exec produced and directed the TV series Wayward Pines which aired on Fox and is currently in busy with Split starring James McAvoy that’s set to release in 2017. Shyamalan was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India.
