‘V The Movie’ Coming From Original Creator Kenneth Johnson And Desilu Studios

Sci-fi classic vehicle V is being revived as a film by Desilu Studios, with the new version of the former TV series written and directed by the original ’80s series creator, Kenneth Johnson.

Called V The Movie, the film’s casting and a release date are not yet determined. It will be produced by John Hermansen and Barry Opper.

The original two-part miniseries aired on NBC in 1983, telling the story of an alien invasion by a reptilian race disguising themselves as humans. While some humans rejoiced at their new overlords and willingly cooperated, a human resistance quickly emerged. And good thing it did – it was discovered that (spoiler alert) the reptilians were using the cooperating humans as (wait for it) – food!

The original miniseries was enormously popular, giving birth to a 1984 sequel, V: The Final Battle; a 1985 show called V: The Series that quickly went away; and finally, a 2009 reboot that lasted two seasons and left a lot of loose ends.

Johnson has not been involved in the series since V: The Final Battle, departing then because of alleged creative differences with NBC. He then wrote a novel, V: The Second Generation, and came up with the Alien Nation TV series (and its subsequent TV movies).

“We are delighted to team up with Desilu to bring the timeless — and timely — story of resistance against tyranny into the 21st Century,” Johnson said in a statement. “V will be the first of a cinematic trilogy which will tell the full epic tale in the manner I always envisioned.”

Desilu was founded in 1950 and was co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. It rose to become the largest independent television production company in the US. Ball bought out Arnaz in 1962, running the company for several years and then selling her shares to Gulf + Western. It then became the television production of arm of Paramount Pictures.

The Desilu TV library is now owned by CBS, but the Desilu brand was acquired by businessman Charles B. Hensley and relaunched last year as a new studio. V The Movie is the first project to be announced by the revived studio. The V The Movie project was brought to Desilu by development executive Sean Stone, who noted that Desilu was the studio home of the original Star Trek.

“V is a multi-billion dollar film franchise and merchandising juggernaut,” claimed Desilu EVP Steven Posen. “We couldn’t be more excited and honored to bring this film to the millions of devoted fans worldwide.”

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