Back in 2016, TNT announced that it was teaming up with M. Night Shyamalan for a new horror-themed program block, with a reboot of the classic anthology series Tales from the Crypt as its centrepiece.
Unfortunately, the network hadn’t counted on a rather complex scenario with regards to the rights, leading to several delays before it was announced this June that plans had been abandoned.
During an appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour this past week, TNT boss Kevin Reilly spoke about the situation, and revealed that the reboot may not have had the final nail in its coffin just yet:
“Its been fun with lawyers, it’s been really fun. We did not know from the get-go or else we would not have announced it and made a big deal out of it. But in fact, there were rights. It is among the most — if not the most — complicated rights structure I’ve ever seen in my career, and we had no idea as we got into it. It became a nightmare. So we said, ‘Fine.’ If and when this gets cleaned up, we’ll revisit.”
In the meantime, TNT is now working with Ridley Scott to curate a sci-fi programming block to take its place.
Originally published July 31, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
