If ever something marked the modern superiority of television over the movies, it’s the arrival of Ridley Scott. Scott has directed some of the most iconic movies of all time (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator) and now, for the first time, he’ll direct a TV show.
Scott will make his TV directorial debut on a new TNT show called Raised by Wolves which, in true Scott fashion, is a high-concept sci-fi show. According to a press release, Raised by Wolves is about “two androids tasked with raising human children on a mysterious virgin planet. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task.” TNT just gave the show a straight to series order, meaning you will see it on the air in the future. And while it’s unclear just how many episodes Scott is directing, it’ll definitely be more than one and there’s even a outside chance he could do all of them. He’ll be working alongside showrunner Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote Prisoners.
“I’m always searching for new frontiers in the sci-fi genre and have found a true original in Raised by Wolves—a wholly distinct and imaginative world, full of characters struggling with existential questions: What makes us human? What constitutes a family? And what if we could start over again and erase the mess we’ve made of our planet? Would we survive? Would we do better?” Scott said in the press release. “Given TNT’s impressive run of bold, quality programming, this feels like exactly the right home for this kind of ambitious television.”
Though this is Scott’s TV directorial debut, it’s far from his TV debut in general. He’s produced almost two dozen shows, including The Man in the High Castle, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, The Good Wife, and The Company, which was also on TNT.
Raised by Wolves does not have a planned release date, but late 2019 seems like a decent guess.