J.J. Abrams is expanding his universe into the realm of the mind of The Twilight Zone.
The prolific producer's Bad Robot Productions has acquired the rights to Rod Serling's unproduced final screenplay The Stops Along the Way, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Abrams, via his overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, will shop the landmark script as an event miniseries. Details on the logline of the project, as would be expected of Bad Robot, are being kept under wraps. It's unclear what role Abrams would have with the project.
If picked up, the Serling adaptation would join Abrams' four other series set for the 2013-14 season: Revolution, Person of Interest and the upcoming Almost Human and Believe.
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During his notable career, Serling was a six-time Emmy winner for his writing work on The Twilight Zone, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Playhouse 90 and Kraft Theatre. On the feature side, his credits included Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Planet of the Apes and Requiem for a Heavyweight. Serling's The Twilight Zone this week was named the third-best written TV series ever by the WGA East and West.
The news comes as miniseries are continuing to be big business at both the broadcast and cable networks in a bid for prestige and to draw eyeballs to programming without interruption. Fox thus far already has two greenlit to series -- the revival of 24 and Chad Hodge and M. Night Shyamalan's Wayward Pines, with several more in development. FX, meanwhile, also has the limited adaptation of Fargo, which like Wayward, also hails from FX Productions.
Abrams is repped by CAA, Oasis Media Group and Jackoway Tyerman.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
