While “The Invisible Man” cemented Leigh Whannell as one of the best new directors working in genre films, many people credit his directorial debut, “Upgrade,” for really showing how special he is. Unfortunately, for as great as “Upgrade” is, the film wasn’t a massive box office success, leading many to wonder if we’d ever see a continuation of the sci-fi story. Thankfully, it appears Blumhouse is working with the filmmaker on a sequel to “Upgrade,” but the franchise will make the transition to TV instead of the big screen.
READ MORE: Jason Blum Would “Love” An ‘Upgrade’ Sequel But Director Leigh Whannell Isn’t Convinced
According to Deadline, Leigh Whannel has teamed with Blumhouse TV for a sequel series to “Upgrade.” The TV show will pick up a few years after the film, which followed the journey of a paralyzed man that is given an AI chip implant, STEM, that allows him to gain control of his body once again, with the added benefit of improved fighting skills. Though, there are complications when you allow an AI to control your body. The series will continue the story of STEM, but in a new host and a new mission. Recently, Whannell expressed interest in an “Upgrade” sequel but wasn’t sure it would ever happen. Apparently, he didn’t think about the idea of a TV series.
Whannell is aboard as a producer on the series, alongside Tim Walsh, who will also produce, write, and showrun “Upgrade.” Walsh previously worked on the USA Network ‘Bourne’ spin-off series, “Treadstone.” They’ll be joined by writer-producers Krystal Ziv Houghton and James Roland, who are already hard at work on scripting the new sci-fi series.
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Blumhouse has made a pretty big name for itself on the big screen, with numerous low-budget horror hits under its belt. However, the venture into TV is still relatively new for the studio, as Blumhouse has diversified quite a bit on the small screen with series ranging from a “Purge” spin-off to the upcoming “Good Lord Bird” and the acclaimed docuseries “The Jinx.”
No word on where the “Upgrade” series might land, but given that fan interest still exists and Whannell/Blumhouse are hot commodities, it’s likely that they’ll have no problem finding a home for the show.
Here’s the trailer for the film, “Upgrade”:
