Almost anyone who saw the 2007 film The Man From Earth was struck by just how powerful that low budget sci-fi movie is. It was so low budget that it takes place almost entirely in one room with the characters just discussing the possibility of a man who never aged and the implications that might have on human history. I was as blown away by the film as anyone, so I was thrilled when I found out tonight that producer Eric D. Wilkinson and director/co-producer Richard Schenkman were putting together a Kickstarter campaign for a spin-off of the original film titled Man From Earth: The Series.
Now, it doesn’t take someone with the wisdom of 14,000 years to gather that title means that instead of a second film, this new project is going to be a series. The new plot picks up seven years after the original, when John is a teacher at a community college. Some students begin to discover his secret, so he plans to leave. Throwing a kink in his plans of anonymity is the fact that Art Jenkins wrote a book about the night from the original film, meaning that there are some others searching for this immortal man. Plus, the campaign page hints that changes to the Earth could mean that John begins aging after all.
You may remember that a campaign was launched for a film sequel last year, but that didn’t end up getting funded. While I was thrilled at the prospect of another film, this premise seems like the sort of thing that could be even better in episodic form. There’s so much territory that can be covered when expanding Jerome Bixby’s story that restricting it to merely a traditional movie couldn’t possibly be enough. If this campaign gets funded and the project comes to fruition, then there should be plenty of great sci-fi concepts to be entertained by once again.
So, be sure to check out the Kickstarter campaign and donate if you want to see Man From Earth: The Series.
