Update: We’ve added the news that Syfy picked up the pilot for the Tremors series.
The 1990 creature-comedy Tremors kick-started a franchise that continued long after original star Kevin Bacon moved on to bigger projects, but now the award-winning actor is headed back to Perfection, Nevada, for another battle with the monstrous, man-eating worms lurking beneath the dirt.
First reported by EW back in November 2015, the television series based on Tremors will have Bacon reprise his role as reluctant monster-hunter Valentine McKee. The actor will star in the series and serve as an executive producer, and Variety reports that the Syfy network has picked up the pilot for the potential series.
Andrew Miller, who penned The CW series The Secret Circle wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the show along with Bacon and David Schiff. The show will be set 25 years after the events of the original film and find Bacon’s character forced to overcome the ravages of age and alcoholism to once again defeat the massive, worm-like creatures terrorizing the town.
The original Tremors was a surprise hit, and followed a group of townspeople from the isolated desert town who discover that they are being hunted by a group of creatures that tunnel beneath the ground. Along with Bacon, the film starred Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire.
“This is the only character I’ve played that I’ve ever thought about revisiting,” said Bacon in a statement accompanying the news. “I just got to thinking, where would this guy end up after 25 years? Andrew Miller has a fantastic take on it and we hope to create a show that will be fun and scary for fans of the movie and folks that have yet to discover it. Let’s kick some Graboid ass!”
Tremors was received well by critics and parlayed a modest run in theaters into big sales in the home-entertainment market. The film eventually spawned four direct-to-video sequels (including a prequel film set in 1889) and a short-lived, 13-episode series that aired on The SciFi Channel in 2003. Bacon declined to appear in any of the sequels.
After the report regarding the new Tremors series began making the rounds online, the actor seemingly confirmed his return on Twitter, posting a picture of himself and his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, on the set of the 1990 film.
Me and @kyrasedgwick 9 months pregnant 26 years ago on the #Tremors set. Might be time to head back to Perfection pic.twitter.com/I7q92VyBWe
— Kevin Bacon (@kevinbacon) November 24, 2015
“Me and @kyrasedgwick 9 months pregnant 26 years ago on the #Tremors set. Might be time to head back to Perfection,” wrote Bacon in the photo’s caption.
The production timeline for the series is unknown at this point.