Uber producer Gale Ann Hurd, she of such seminal sci-fi classics as THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, AEON FLUX (ok, scratch that last one) is capitalizing on her latest success with THE WALKING DEAD to bring aliens back to our TV screens. 

Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment has optioned the  ‘factual’ book AREA 51: AN UNCENSORED HISTORY OF AMERICA’S TOP SECRET MILITARY BASE by Annie Jacobsen, with the aim to turn into it an hour-long drama. Karl Gajdusek, writer of DEAD LIKE ME and the recent Cage and Kidman thriller TRESPASS, has been tasked with weaving the tale of a pair of employees at the facility who stumble upon something sinister within its walls, a secret that threatens their very lives as the Government will stop at nothing to protect it. Dun, dun, duuuu! It’s odd that this short synopsis sounds nothing like the book itself:

It is the most famous military installation in the world. And no credible insider has ever divulged the truth about his time inside of it. Until now. This is the first book based on interviews with scientists, pilots, and engineers – 58 in total – who provide an unprecedented look into the mysterious activities of a top-secret base, from the Cold War to today. With a jaw-dropping ending, it proves that facts are often more fantastic than fiction, especially when the distinction is almost impossible to make.

To be honest, it all sounds like extremely familiar territory, but it’s hard not to trust Hurd that this has the potential to be special.

It’s early days on this, as it still needs to be shopped around the networks for a potential buyer, but with Hurd’s cred in the industry we don’t predict a problem. Whether it’ll be any good or not is a different matter.

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