The industry website http://www.productionweekly.com/ stated today on their Twitter stream (http://twitter.com/prodweek) that The CW will once again try to do an adaptation of Warren Ellis’ Wildstorm graphic novel, Global Frequency:

Ellis then send a message to his Bad Signal email subscribers quoting the above tweet, and stating only that “I Couldn’t Possibly Comment”, but we all know what that means.

Global Frequency originates as a 12-issue comic series from Wildstorm Productions, consisting of a series of single-issue, standalone stories. Written by Ellis, with covers by Brian Wood, each stand-alone story in the series featured artwork by a different artist. Whilst separate, each of the stories centered around The Global Frequency, an independent, covert intelligence organization headed by a former intelligence agent who uses the alias of Miranda Zero. There are reportedly 1,001 people on the Global Frequency, forming an active smart mob communicating by specially modified video mobile phones through a central dispatch system coordinated by a young woman code-named Aleph.

The purpose of the organization is to protect and rescue the world from the consequences of the various secret projects that the governments of the world have established, which are unknown to the public at large. The people on the Global Frequency are chosen and called on for their specialized skills in a variety of areas, from military personnel, intelligence agents, police detectives to scientific researchers, academics, athletes, former criminals and assassins. These threats that the organization deals with are equally varied and usually world-threatening, ranging from rogue military operations and paranormal phenomena to terrorist attacks and religious cults.

If this news is true, this would be the second attempt by The CW (formally The WB) network to adapt the Wildstorm comic into a TV series, with the first attempt being in 2005, when they produced a pilot episode that was based heavily on the first issue of the comic. However, they never aired this pilot, and did not commission the series.

The original series proposal was prepared by Mark Burnett with Michelle Forbes as Miranda Zero, Josh Hopkins as Sean Flynn, Jenni Baird as Dr. Katrina Finch and Aimee Garcia as Aleph. The characters of Sean Flynn, an ex-policeman who accidentally stumbled on a Global Frequency mission and Katrina Finch, a brilliant scientist with expertise in multiple fields, were created especially for the series.

Unlike the comic book, which had an ever-changing cast of field agents, Flynn and Finch were to be regulars along with Zero and Aleph, with other Frequency members coming in as and when necessary in supporting roles. This would allow for the character continuity expected of a television series and yet allow other characters to be killed off as in the comic book.

John Rogers was the principal creative force behind the television incarnation, writing the pilot episode, with Ellis credited as producer and creator. Other writers waiting to come on board included David Slack, Ben Edlund and Diego Gutierrez. The pilot was directed by Nelson McCormick.

The unaired pilot was leaked onto the Internet in June 2005 and continues to be downloaded and shared, primarily via BitTorrent and other P2P networks. Although it was popular and critically acclaimed, according to Ellis himself the leaking of the pilot annoyed Warner Brothers to the extent that they killed the project.

Related posts:

1. Avatar Press Previews Gorgeous Covers for Three Upcoming Warren Ellis Books Avatar Press Just posted the gorgeous looking covers on their...
2. Warren Ellis Announces a New Book: Shivering Sands Warren Ellis was announced the release of a new book...
3. Comic Review: Warren Ellis’ Supergod #1 Supergod #1 is the debut issue of a new five-part...
4. Warren Ellis & Mike Wolfer’s Gravel Movie in Devolpment by Legendary Pictures Variety.com has reported, and Warren Ellis has confirmed the news,...
5. Shivering Sands, the New Book by Warren Ellis is Now Available to buy! Warren Ellis recently revealed on his blog that his new...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.