Deadline reports that Sky, the European pay-TV company, is currently working on an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel The Time Machine with Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell’s of House Productions.
Screenwriter Nick Payne (Wanderlust) and director Kibwe Tavares (the upcoming Noughts and Crosses) are both attached, though the outlet stresses that the project is in the “very early stages of development” at this point. It remains to be seen if the series will find a home stateside.
It’s possible the project is planned to air on Sky Atlantic channel, which is looking for more prestige television to add to its roster, in addition to importing series from premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime.
This is the latest in several attempts to develop Wells’ 1895 novel into something for the big or small screen. Sky had previously launched The Nightmare Worlds of H.G. Wells to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Wells’ birth last year. The four-part series aired on Sky Arts, and starred Ray Winstone (The Departed) as Wells, who narrated the author’s stories.
A previous adaptation of Wells‘ The Time Machine was produced in 1978, which aired on NBC. Prior to that, there was the 1960 MGM film directed by George Pal (War of the Worlds). In 2002, Guy Pearce (Memento) starred in another big screen adaptation alongside Jeremy Irons (Justice League) and Sienna Guillory (High Rise). That version was directed by Wells’ great-grandson Simon Wells.
