Actors Emily Tremaine (“Vinyl“), Megan Ketch (“Jane the Virgin“), and Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead) have in Syfy‘s upcoming “Tremors” television series. They join Kevin Bacon, who will return to his 1990 country boy hero role of Valentine “Val” McKee. The series picks up with Val two and a half decades after the events of the original film, although it’s currently unclear how much the other sequels and previous short-lived TV series might factor in.
In the Tremors follow-up, the killer Graboid worms that nearly destroyed Perfection, NV, 25 years ago are back, and the town’s only hope for survival is Valentine McKee (Bacon), who beat them once. But to do it again he’ll have to overcome age, alcohol and a delusional hero complex.
Tremaine will play Emily McKee, Val’s daughter who comes to visit him out of obligation after graduation. Ketch will take on the role of Mindy Sterngood, which was previously portrayed by both Ariana Richards and Tinsley Grimes earlier follow-ups. Now a doctor, she holds a potentially deadly secret that could threaten the town. Fernandez will play a new character named Nico Garza, who is biding his time at Earl’s Graboid Waste Gobbling Company, looking for an opportunity to leave Perfection.
While the return of Mindy as a character is cool, that last bit of casting is most interesting to me. Earl’s Graboid Waste Gobbling Company? This may well be our first bit of confirmation that Fred Ward will be returning to the role of Earl Basset in some capacity, a character he has not played since 1996’s Tremors 2: Aftershocks. Either that or it’s a different Earl, which seems a silly thing to do. Nope, I’m betting they have Ward back for at least a guest starring role, if not a recurring one.
There’s also still no word as to whether or not Michael Gross‘ franchise-leading character Burt Gummer will appear. I wouldn’t rule out a guest spot, but I suspect both Gross and Universal would prefer to keep Gummer as a globe-trotting Graboid hunter, so that the DTV sequels can continue alongside this series. After all, Tremors 5: Bloodlines netted them a lot of success on home video two years ago and they’ve already lined up Tremors 6 for an as-yet-undetermined 2018 release. Why stop that gravy train in service of a TV series when you can do both?
Screenwriter Andrew Miller (?) serves as the series showrunner and has penned the pilot. Bacon and Miller will also produce, alongside Jessica Rhoades, David Schiff, and Jason Blum. Production on the pilot is expected to fire up later this fall under the direction of Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice). If given the greenlight, the series could show up on Syfy as early as Spring 2018.
