TNT appears to be boosting its lineup of genre television with the help of the legendary Ridley Scott for a TV offering, called Raised By Wolves. The drama-driven Turner cable channel – which announced a creative partnership with Scott last year – has officially given the other-planet-set TV project a straight-to-series order.
Scott won’t be the only notable creative name on the proverbial marquee for Raised By Wolves, since it is primarily the brainchild of Aaron Guzikowski, writer of director Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed Hugh Jackman/Jake Gyllenhaal crime drama Prisoners, Jason Momoa TV series The Red Road and the recent Rami Malek-starring remake of Papillon. Indeed, Guzikowski will serve as writer, executive producer and showrunner. Scott will serve as an executive producer via his Scott Free shingle alongside David W. Zucker, Jordan Sheehan, and Madhouse Entertainment’s Adam Kolbrenner and Robyn Meisinger.
Raised By Wolves will take place on a mysterious planet – virgin territory to humans – that’s in the early stages of colonisation. However, the series will centre on a pair of androids who are raising human children on the the burgeoning human home, living amongst colonists who clearly haven’t left their ideological baggage back on Earth, since they are being torn apart by religious differences. Consequently, the androids find themselves existing tenuously in the middle.
Interestingly, Scott will not only serve as executive producer, but will also occupy the director’s chair for Raised By Wolves for an unspecified number of episodes. This aspect marks a monumental occasion, since it will be the first time that the iconic, template-setting helmer of Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Prometheus and The Martian has ever directed for television. As Scott explains in a statement:
“I’m always searching for new frontiers in the sci-fi genre and have found a true original in Raised By Wolves – a wholly distinct and imaginative world, full of characters struggling with existential questions: What makes us human? What constitutes a family? And what if we could start over again and erase the mess we’ve made of our planet? Would we survive? Would we do better?” He adds, “Given TNT’s impressive run of bold, quality programming, this feels like exactly the right home for this kind of ambitious television.”
Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT, hints female attributes among the android characters, expressing in a statement:
“Ridley Scott is simply the best there is in the sci-fi genre. Besides directing some of the most important sci-fi films of all-time, Ridley has created iconic characters from Alien’s Ripley to Prometheus’ Elizabeth Shaw. We’re thrilled to have Ridley do the same for us as we look forward to his vision of Aaron’s complex and futuristic Mother. It’s incredibly rare to be able to make television that both challenges one’s intellect and also thrills the excited fangirl side—Raised By Wolves is that rare show that does both.”
We’ll keep you updated on Raised By Wolves as the news arrives!