Counterbalance Entertainment and Legendary Pictures are partnering up to transform History Channel’s long-running series Ancient Aliens into a cinematic sci-fi spectacle.
Writer and producer Josh Heald, known for Cobra Kai and Hot Tub Time Machine, will direct. Heald is joined by his Cobra Kai co-creators Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg as producers, alongside Godzilla v. Kong producer Jon Jashni, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Luke Ryan — primarily recognized for his former work as a producer on Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Martian Child — will pen the script.
Ancient Aliens is a pseudoscientific series that suggests extraterrestrial beings visited earth in prehistoric times, coming to influence various cultures — often being viewed as gods among men. While specific narrative details remain scarce at this time, Legendary Pictures has said the film “will be a two-handed, globe-spanning adventure featuring ancient sites and artifacts, confronting the theories and questions raised by the popular docuseries.”
The movie has some rather big shoes to fill, for the series is now in its 16th season and has produced over 200 episodes. The show was executive produced by Kevin Burns — an Emmy-winning producer known for various documentary successes within the sci-fi space, including Star Wars: Legacy Revealed, Lost in Space Forever, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, and more. Burns died in September 2020.
The Ancient Aliens film will (hopefully) deliver on fans’ expectations while paying homage to Burns’ revolutionary creation. The show's popularity is also credited for catalyzing AlienCon — a convention that started in 2016 and continues to welcome over 50,000 guests each year.
There is no news yet as to when we can expect the Ancient Aliens film, or who will be cast in this strange project.