’12 Monkeys’ TV Series: Syfy Adapting Terry Gilliam for the Small Screen?

Syfy has been building some major buzz with its most recent genre series, including the breakout hit 'Defiance' and buzzworthy and upcoming Ron Moore project 'Helix,' but the latest venture could be the most high-profile yet. Sources say '12 Monkeys' may soon end up as an ongoing TV series, sans Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt or Terry Gilliam, but with a major connection to the movie, regardless.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, '12 Monkeys' feature film producers Chuck Roven and Richard Suckle submitted the pitch, with 'Nikita' writers Terry Matalas attached to write, and '24''s Jon Cassar on board to direct. Currently, plans are for the 90-minute backdoor pilot to potentially lead to a series order, as had been originally done by Syfy's 'Battlestar Galactica.'

"We have a great pilot, we're now flushing out what the rest of the series might be," Syfy president of original programming Mark Stern said of the project.

For those unfamiliar with the 1995 film, '12 Monkeys' featured Bruce Willis in the role of James Cole, criminal inmate in an apocalyptic future where Earth's surviving population dwells underground in fear of a deadly virus released years earlier by the Army of the Twelve Monkeys (led by a young, Oscar-nominated Brad Pitt). Cole is sent back to the past to prevent the outbreak of the virus, hoping to earn himself a pardon if successful.

We'd be interested to see a '12 Monkeys' TV series even without Terry Gilliam's trademark style, but what say you? Do you think the film lends itself to an episodic format?