Veteran writer/director Kenneth Johnson, creator of The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, and the Bionic Woman, has never been quite to point out how his V franchise was changed from his original idea. When V aired back on NBC in May 1983, the televison two-part alien invasion saga drew huge ratings and critical praise for its Holocaust analogy. NBC, realizing they had a potential TV movie franchise, ordered up a sequel movie -instead of series Johnson had hoped for. But as V: The Final Battle began to take shape, Johnson realized that NBC wanted something completely different, citing the recently released Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi as the direction the movie series should go. Another words, action and adventure.
The Nazi allegory would become part of the background of V: The Final Battle, and fire fights and action would become the forefront. The later, short-lived TV series, became more known for its silliness than a parable of World War II.
Eventually, Johnson would leave the project before filming, and had nothing to do with the subsequent series and the 15 novels that were published between 1984 and 1988.
But, of course, being the writer that he is, Johnson longed to return to franchise, and back in 2004, when both miniseries were released on DVD, Kenneth Johnson announced he was planning a sequel to the first V miniseries, set 20 years later. This new TV movie would ignore the events of The Final Battle and the series.
Two years later, NBC was interested in the two-part movie, but actually said they would rather do a remake of the original and then, maybe, the sequel story. But as many things happen in network TV, interest at the network waned, and nothing developed.
Now, two years after that, Johnson has adapted his sequel screenplay into a novel, called V: The Second Generation. On a recent email I sent to him, Johnson responded by saying that he is “presently working to revive V as a theatrical motion picture franchise -- first a remake of the original, to be followed by the material in The Second Generation.” And on the Dark Horizons web site recently, Garth Franklin posted Johnson is expected to make an announcement about the franchise, after the WGA strike is settled.
The Nazi allegory would become part of the background of V: The Final Battle, and fire fights and action would become the forefront. The later, short-lived TV series, became more known for its silliness than a parable of World War II.
Eventually, Johnson would leave the project before filming, and had nothing to do with the subsequent series and the 15 novels that were published between 1984 and 1988.
But, of course, being the writer that he is, Johnson longed to return to franchise, and back in 2004, when both miniseries were released on DVD, Kenneth Johnson announced he was planning a sequel to the first V miniseries, set 20 years later. This new TV movie would ignore the events of The Final Battle and the series.
Two years later, NBC was interested in the two-part movie, but actually said they would rather do a remake of the original and then, maybe, the sequel story. But as many things happen in network TV, interest at the network waned, and nothing developed.
Now, two years after that, Johnson has adapted his sequel screenplay into a novel, called V: The Second Generation. On a recent email I sent to him, Johnson responded by saying that he is “presently working to revive V as a theatrical motion picture franchise -- first a remake of the original, to be followed by the material in The Second Generation.” And on the Dark Horizons web site recently, Garth Franklin posted Johnson is expected to make an announcement about the franchise, after the WGA strike is settled.
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