We admit, when we heard that Syfy was producing a series based on Terry Gilliam's 1995 cult classic 12 Monkeys, we were a tad skeptical. It's a common sentiment when a work of art near and dear to our hearts gets tampered with. Then we watched FX's stunning Fargo and well, everything changed.
After Fargo boss Noah Hawley managed to successfully capture Coen brothers nuances and filmic tone in his sprawling crime drama, we're willing to give the team behind 12 Monkeys a chance to earn our trust, too.
While the Coens helped produce Fargo, Gilliam is in no way involved with 12 Monkeys, something co-executive producer Terry Matalas wants audiences to understand. "It's a complete reimagining," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We were all big fans of the original film and had a deep love and respect for the material. We didn’t want to just redo what the movie does. We wanted it to be grounded and closer to a thriller but that’s not to say we won't play with tone."
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Based on the first trailer, two things are immediately clear. Like the movie, the series will be about a man who travels back in time to stop a devastating plague. Unlike the movie, Brad Pitt won't be in it. We'll try not to hold that against it.
12 Monkeys premieres in January 2015, but you can check out the trippy new trailer below.