CBS Acquires Minority Report-like Show From J.J. Abrams

[vansau]

CBS Acquires Minority Report-like Show From J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams' new television show is all about preventing crimes before they happen, but not with Tom Cruise.

J.J. Abrams wants to prevent future crimes. On TV, that is. That's right, the man behind Fringe, Cloverfield, and Star Trek is teaming up with Jonah Nolan (director Christopher Nolan's brother) to create a new show that seems to be taking a note from Minority Report, and CBS is Officially Interested in the show.

Nolan wrote the pilot script for a show called Person of Interest, which CBS has just ordered a pilot episode for. The plot apparently "centers on an ex-CIA hitman and a scientist who team up to prevent crimes before they happen." Nolan and Abrams are going to serve as executive producers for the show, too.

If I were just going on the plot summary alone, I'm not sure I'd be super-interested in Person of Interest. But it's written by one of the co-writers of The Dark Knight and has J.J. Abrams involved with it, too, so I'm actually kind of enthusiastic about it.

Source: <a href=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed/cbs-picks-drama-pilot-jj-97935>THR via <a href=http://io9.com/#!5757433/cbs-buys-jj-abrams-and-jonah-nolans-minority-report+esque-tv-series>io9

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[SilverHammerMan]

*screaming skyward*
ABRAAAAAAAMS!

Abrams is a cool guy, I'll at least check out the pilot.

 

[Therumancer]

You know, I'll be honest in saying that I think "Minority Report" winds up being given too much credit due to the movie, despite the movie being based on an old Phillip K. Dick short story.

The whole "let's prevent bad things before they happen" idea is actually pretty old, and while it was a limited run I think that a lot of people tend to overlook "Force Works", an old Marvel "Avengers" spin off (and one of the more interesting things they did during the 1990s IMO).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_Works

I don't know what it is, but for some reason when reading this even with minimal information, the above popped into my mind.

I guess it's just that I don't think that people should automatically associate pro-active responses based on some form of precognition with that movie. While it wasn't terrible, I think the concept has been done better.

 

[hansari]

The plot apparently "centers on an ex-CIA hitman and a scientist who team up to prevent crimes before they happen."

So it's like Early Edition? But with science rather than a magical newspaper...


I can't believe this article jogged my memory of that show. I saw one episode years ago...

In any case, it won't be better than Early Edition

 

[Rallion]

You know, I'll be honest in saying that I think "Minority Report" winds up being given too much credit due to the movie, despite the movie being based on an old Phillip K. Dick short story.

The whole "let's prevent bad things before they happen" idea is actually pretty old, and while it was a limited run I think that a lot of people tend to overlook "Force Works", an old Marvel "Avengers" spin off (and one of the more interesting things they did during the 1990s IMO).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_Works

I don't know what it is, but for some reason when reading this even with minimal information, the above popped into my mind.

I guess it's just that I don't think that people should automatically associate pro-active responses based on some form of precognition with that movie. While it wasn't terrible, I think the concept has been done better.

Minority Report wasn't really about preventing crimes before they happen, that was just the background that enabled a story that examined the morality of punishing people for things they haven't done yet. Obviously that was diluted in the movie, but the core of the PKD story was definitely still there.

While I'm talking about movies that were much worse than the classic sci-fi that they're based on...Saying that Minority Report is about "stopping crimes before they happen" is exactly like saying that Bicentennial Man is about "a robot." Well...yeah. Kind of. But, more than that, it's an exploration of what it means to be human.

(To be clear, I don't think Minority Report was as bad as Bicentennial Man.)

With all that said, though, I suspect that this project will be closer to Force Works than Minority Report -- so I have no argument with the actual point you were making.

 

[Therumancer]

You know, I'll be honest in saying that I think "Minority Report" winds up being given too much credit due to the movie, despite the movie being based on an old Phillip K. Dick short story.

The whole "let's prevent bad things before they happen" idea is actually pretty old, and while it was a limited run I think that a lot of people tend to overlook "Force Works", an old Marvel "Avengers" spin off (and one of the more interesting things they did during the 1990s IMO).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_Works

I don't know what it is, but for some reason when reading this even with minimal information, the above popped into my mind.

I guess it's just that I don't think that people should automatically associate pro-active responses based on some form of precognition with that movie. While it wasn't terrible, I think the concept has been done better.

Minority Report wasn't really about preventing crimes before they happen, that was just the background that enabled a story that examined the morality of punishing people for things they haven't done yet. Obviously that was diluted in the movie, but the core of the PKD story was definitely still there.

While I'm talking about movies that were much worse than the classic sci-fi that they're based on...Saying that Minority Report is about "stopping crimes before they happen" is exactly like saying that Bicentennial Man is about "a robot." Well...yeah. Kind of. But, more than that, it's an exploration of what it means to be human.

(To be clear, I don't think Minority Report was as bad as Bicentennial Man.)

With all that said, though, I suspect that this project will be closer to Force Works than Minority Report -- so I have no argument with the actual point you were making.

Well, I didn't get into a whole analysis of the thing, but I kind of figured "preventing crimes before they happen" kind of entailed "punishing people for things they haven't done yet", but I suppose one does not nessicarly have to involve the other now that I think about it, and for someone that didn't see "Minority Report" it wasn't a perfect description of the movie.

Speaking entirely for the movie though, the entire moral point of it was contingent on the central technology they were using not working. That is to say that the very existance of the so called "minority report" invalidated the entire system due to the contridiction and there being more "free will" than the system allowed since it was based on the idea of predestination and that what was foretold would definatly happen, as opposed to simply
being really likely.

Interesting film, but I think it could have been done a lot better.

 

[ENKC]

Am I the only one contemplating the redundancy of the term "prevent crimes before they happen"?

 

[CINN4M0N]

I just hope JJ Abrams doesn't turn it into a big incoherent mess a la Lost.

I'm not trying to troll here, but it seemed like in the writers room they were just scribbling down any poppycock that'd provide a cheap twist at the end of each episode, with the intentions of making sense of it later. Then they went way too far and wrote themselves into a corner with no possibility of having any canon make sense.

I say this because though Lost was an abomination of screenplay, commercially it was a success, and I'm worried Abrams may once again bring out his "winning formula" and produce an awful Sci-Fi TV show.

 

[adderseal]

I don't think it'll be able to compete with HBO, Boardwalk Empire is absolutely stunning. That show looks set to dominate for this year, maybe the next too.

 

[underscore_b]

I just hope JJ Abrams doesn't turn it into a big incoherent mess a la Lost.

I'm not trying to troll here, but it seemed like in the writers room they were just scribbling down any poppycock that'd provide a cheap twist at the end of each episode, with the intentions of making sense of it later. Then they went way too far and wrote themselves into a corner with no possibility of having any canon make sense.

I say this because though Lost was an abomination of screenplay, commercially it was a success, and I'm worried Abrams may once again bring out his "winning formula" and produce an awful Sci-Fi TV show.

Yeah, pretty much this. I'm honestly surprised that Abrams actually has any credibility in the industry after literally ending a six-year-long thriller with "strange things happen on the island because THE ISLAND IS MAGIC". I know lost was a huge commercial success and all but a cynical ploy on that scale can only work once. Can't it?

 

[Pompey71]

Isn't it about time we have a new Quantum Leap or something? Where Sam changes something in the past and it causes him to have actually had a son who travels through time to try and find him and bring him home. I think that would rock. There's a new Al cuz Sam helped him out but the ending was just too sad--- needs to be sorted! Sam needs to come home! So scrap this idea and make my Quantum Leap 2010 idea! ---Ideas copyright to me! Steve Anders 2011 C lol

 

[gibboss28]

More stuff from Abrams? Really? Guess I'll be giving this a miss.

 

[varulfic]

Awesome, I need more tv shows to watch. My house has been a bit quiet since Lost ended. Fringe sucked ass though, so I'm a bit cautious in my enthusiasm. Still, I won't miss it.

 

[Stevey M]

A lot of people seem to be forgetting that Abrams stopped working on Lost after the first season. Since he created it, he was still given the Executive Producer credit thereafter but he had no involvement on the show.

I'm pretty psyched for this. Fringe is pretty great and Jon Nolan is a terrific writer. Batman Begins was a masterpiece.

 

[Logic Sword]

I just hope JJ Abrams doesn't turn it into a big incoherent mess a la Lost.

I'm not trying to troll here, but it seemed like in the writers room they were just scribbling down any poppycock that'd provide a cheap twist at the end of each episode, with the intentions of making sense of it later. Then they went way too far and wrote themselves into a corner with no possibility of having any canon make sense.

I say this because though Lost was an abomination of screenplay, commercially it was a success, and I'm worried Abrams may once again bring out his "winning formula" and produce an awful Sci-Fi TV show.

Yeah, pretty much this. I'm honestly surprised that Abrams actually has any credibility in the industry after literally ending a six-year-long thriller with "strange things happen on the island because THE ISLAND IS MAGIC". I know lost was a huge commercial success and all but a cynical ploy on that scale can only work once. Can't it?

Abrams left LOST after series 3, if I recall.

FRINGE is fantastic, and I, for one, loved LOST so I'm looking forward to seeing this. I just hope this doesn't mean that FRINGE is ending as well, seeing as it's also been moved to the Friday night death slot

 

[Vohn_exel]

I just hope JJ Abrams doesn't turn it into a big incoherent mess a la Lost.

I'm not trying to troll here, but it seemed like in the writers room they were just scribbling down any poppycock that'd provide a cheap twist at the end of each episode, with the intentions of making sense of it later. Then they went way too far and wrote themselves into a corner with no possibility of having any canon make sense.

I say this because though Lost was an abomination of screenplay, commercially it was a success, and I'm worried Abrams may once again bring out his "winning formula" and produce an awful Sci-Fi TV show.

Yeah, pretty much this. I'm honestly surprised that Abrams actually has any credibility in the industry after literally ending a six-year-long thriller with "strange things happen on the island because THE ISLAND IS MAGIC". I know lost was a huge commercial success and all but a cynical ploy on that scale can only work once. Can't it?

Lost was never about the ending, it was about the ride along the way. After a while I came to accept the ending even though it was kind of lackluster. It did actually fit the Lost universe quite well. In my opinion the thing that ruined Lost was the fans practically begging to know the secrets of the island, instead of just inferring things and making them up. If you go to a wonderful magician show and love everything about it, and then when you ask how he did it all he reveals it's cheap tricks, you're going to be a little upset and all the magic will be taken out of it.

It's like Shadow of the Colossus. The entire story to that game? It's almost all made up in the heads of fans. We're given practically nothing and left to come up with our own answers from what we're presented with. But most Lost fans couldn't handle and had to have answers. The creator of SOTC has even admitted that he doesn't know what all the answers are to his story, as he thinks it's better that way. I'm sure the writers of Lost were the same, and had to come up with stupid answers to things that should have never been answered directly anyway.

Anyway, I LOVE Fringe I can't wait to see what happens next on that show, even though the Smallville soap opera melodrama is beginning to seep into the show, I still love it! I've liked almost everything JJ Abrams has done so far, and this sounds quite interesting. I might check it out.

 

[Meggiepants]

I'll be interested in anything slightly sci fi at least for a few episodes. We need more sci fi on T.V.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

How can you be sure a person had the intention of doing such an action?

And even then you are going to lock him up because he "could" have killed someoene.

Dont get me wrong I love JJ Abrams (Super 8 is going to be amazing) but for his own sci-fi show I wish he would have done something else.