Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The film will be written and directed by the original’s creator, Kenneth Johnson and produced by John Hermansen and Barry Opper.

“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 press release. “V will be the first of a cinematic trilogy which will tell the full epic tale in the manner I always envisioned.”

“Desilu was revolutionary in its time and as the saying goes, everything old is new again,” said maverick businessman Charles B. Hensley who acquired the Desilu brand with a vision of reimagining Desilu into a global entertainment and commercial empire. “Coming from the consumer products space, it makes sense for the company’s trajectory and shareholders to focus on film and television properties with high merchandising and licensing potential such as V The Movie Franchise.”

The highly sought-after project was brought to Desilu by development executive Sean Stone. “V is a multi-billion dollar film franchise and merchandising juggernaut,” said Desilu Exec VP Steven Posen, adding, “we couldn’t be more excited and honoyred to bring this film to the millions of devoted fans worldwide.”

“It’s no small irony that the new Desilu will be building on the sci-fi tradition with ‘V’, considering Desilu was the original studio responsible for Star Trek!” added Stone.

On his own website, Johnson noted:  The announcement above is a very important and extremely positive development toward achieving our goal of making V The Movie and the two sequels based upon my novel V The Second Generation.

“Desilu has entered into a contract with our company, Victory Pictures, which grants them an Exclusive Option on the motion picture rights to V The Movie and the opportunity to present it to their investors. Desilu hopes to have the full funding in place within the next few months.

“Once that financing is complete we will be able to announce when actual production of the movie will commence. In the meantime we are indeed delighted to be involved with the great team at Desilu — who are as enthusiastic and eager as we are to make a movie that we can all be proud of.”

The original miniseries of V appeared in 1983, and was followed by V – The Final Battle in 1984 and V – The Series, which took the story in directions that Johnson has often said he was unhappy with. That incarnation also spawned a sequence of original novels.

Johnson published a version of his own take on the story in 2008, V – The Second Generation. The concept was updated for the 21st Century for a two-season TV series between 2009 and 2011.