John Carpenter teases Prince of Darkness TV series

John Carpenter is giving out strong hints that he might turn his 1987 cult hit film, Prince of Darkness into a TV series

Thirty-one years after the release of Prince of Darkness, John Carpenter is thinking about re-imagining the story as a television series. The original film, written and directed by Carpenter, is the second installment in Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy” that began with The Thing in 1982 and ended with In the Mouth of Madness in 1995. Prince of Darkness was poorly received upon release and currently holds a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, but in a classic case of critics and fans not seeing eye-to-eye, the film has a strong cult following and is hailed an undervalued horror film.

The movie is about a priest, played by Donald Pleasence, who finds a vial filled with slime that is the essence of Satan. The slime turns people into zombified killer but when a student, Susan Blanchard, gets infected by an unusually large quantity, she becomes Satan personified. If it sounds crazy to you, that’s because it is.

Let’s not get too excited about the series yet. In an interview with the Consequence of Sound, Carpenter mentioned partnering up with Shudder and teased the potential project, “We’re talking to them about doing a theme, and maybe doing a show for them,” Carpenter said. “What would you think about Prince of Darkness as a TV show?” he asked before immediately backtracking. “Well, maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know.” When pressed for details, he zipped shut, saying: “I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going to tell you.”.

More from Entertainment

• 10 Thanksgiving movies on Disney+ for your holiday watch list
• Strictly spoilers and results 2023: Who is leaving on Strictly Come Dancing Week 9?
• CMT Smashing Glass performers honoring groundbreaking women in music
• Jamie Lynn Spears joins I’m A Celebrity season 23: Who else is set to appear in the British reality series?
• Strictly spoilers and results 2023: Who is leaving on Strictly Come Dancing Week 8?

It’s not set in stone, but why would he jump to Prince of Darkness if he wasn’t making or thinking about making it into a series? One fact the interview did confirm was that Carpenter and Shudder have been talking about doing something together, that much is more or less certain.

Shudder is a streaming service (remember the good days when everything was on TV) that specializes in horror and thrillers. The site is currently working with The Walking Dead‘s Greg Nicotero to bring Stephen King’s Creepshow anthology to life as a series. They’re also close to airing a new TV series called Deadwax that’s about killing vinyl (??) A Carpenter show would be right up their alley.

Carpenter stopped his directing days about eight years ago (his last film was 2010’s The Ward), but he’s attached to multiple possible television series, including a SYFY show based on his own comic book, Tales For A Halloween Night.

Since he’s left film, he’s released two albums of original music and is performing live shows where he plays the musical themes of his own films. Recently, he has returned to film-making for the Halloween remake, serving as executive producer and composer, but he hasn’t taken the reigns of developing a film or series since 2010.

If he does create a Prince of Darkness series, I don’t see him writing and directing it himself. Most likely he’ll be executive producer and name himself one of the showrunners.

What do you think about a Prince of Darkness TV show? Tell us what you think in the comments below.