Red Faction coming to SyFy

(Gamespot) – In February, publisher THQ and cable channel SyFy announced a deal that would see the latter develop a show based on the former’s hit platformer de Blob. Today, Broadcasting & Cable reports that the science-fiction-focused network is now developing a telefilm based on another THQ property: Red Faction.

According to the trade, the two-hour Red Faction movie will be a potential pilot for a TV series based on the franchise, which was itself partially inspired by the film Total Recall. A similar arrangement saw a 2003 miniseries remake based on the 1970s show Battlestar Galactica turn into a full-fledged, and award-winning, series that ran from 2004 to 2009.

“It is the kind of content that fits our genre,” senior VP of SyFy Ventures Alan Seiffert told B&C. “It is a great fit for a big Syfy Saturday movie, and if it really works, it is a great backdoor pilot.”

The deal will cut both ways, with future Red Faction games being coproduced by the SyFy Games label. According to the latest THQ financial report, Red Faction 4 has been moved up to arrive during the publisher’s current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2011. CEO Brian Farrell said the game’s release had been advanced to capitalize on the popularity of the critically acclaimed Red Faction: Guerrilla and promised “robust online gameplay” and increased environmental destruction.

The network has also struck a deal with THQ to develop a DS, iPhone, and iPad game based on the upcoming reality show Ghost Hunters Academy. The show will be a spin-off of the current SyFy series Ghost Hunters, which follows two paranormal sleuths trying to capture evidence of supernatural activities.

"I can has tv series?" No, Mr. Cylon, no you can't.

I’ve noticed a seriously disturbing trend on the Sci-Fi channel over the past few years…

We have shows like Farscape, The Invisible Man, Stargate Atlantis, and the most recent casualty, Battlestar Galactica. These were all great shows with some serious fanbases behind them, each with its own potential. Granted, the creators of BSG have always said there was an ending to the series in the mix but if the last half season was an indication, they’re having to rush it now with Sci-Fi breathing down their necks to close out the series.

And there’s more reality shows on the way on Sci-Fi, the only one of which I’m interested in is Ultimate Gamer. Partly because Starslay3r, a recent addition to our Gamettes, is in it, partly because it looks like they’re going to make geeks exercise. That’s always worth a watch. But the rest… Chase? You’re going to put some webcams on the “bad guys” heads and have them chase people who are essentially jogging for dollars? Are you at least going to give the bad guys some baseball bats or is this like a high tech game of freeze tag? And the other one, Estate of Panic? I think I saw this one a long time ago. It was called Fear Factor.

And lest we forget the money they spend on bad Sci-Fi movies.  Movies so bad, they need a new alphabet to score them because they’re too far down to be “B” movies.  Where do they come up with the crap for those movies? Solar flares and killer mosquitoes. Sounds like a fun Saturday lineup. I dare you to find one science fiction fan who will admit to watching more than one of these things.

Now don’t get me wrong. There’s still some good stuff on Sci-Fi but it seems lately like more of the good stuff is getting cancelled in favor of the bad stuff. And a large portion of the recent good stuff comes from other channels. Or other countries. I’m looking at you, Doctor.

Honestly, too many more wrestling and reality shows and we’ll have to have a Sci-Fi Too channel just for the bad Saturday movies.

Gritskrieg – End of Line