Fox Scares Up J.J. Abrams' 'Fringe'

Two-hour pilot budgeted at over $10 million

Nearly 15 years after "The X-Files" launched, Fox is looking to scare a new generation of viewers with "Fringe," a spooky skein from the minds of J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

Net has made a series commitment to the Warner Bros.-Bad Robot production, which will start off with a two-hour pilot budgeted at more than $10 million. Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci -- the brain trust behind Par's new "Star Trek" feature -- wrote the project on spec and shopped it to nets this week.

Trio will exec produce "Fringe" along with Bryan Burk ("Lost"). A search has begun for a pilot helmer as well as a series showrunner.

"Fringe" mixes elements of "The X-Files" and Paddy Chayefsky's "Altered States" with what Abrams calls "a slight 'Twilight Zone' vibe." It will focus on brilliant but possibly crazy research scientist Walter Bishop, his estranged son and a female FBI agent who brings them together.

Episodes will explore self-contained mysteries of the paranormal, as well as the relationships between the three leads.

"So much of the story is relatable people in extraordinary situations," Abrams said. "The show is definitely a nod to 'Altered States' and 'Scanners' and that whole Michael Crichton/Robin Cook world of medicine and science."

There'll also be an overriding mythology that will come into play from time to time, as well as a healthy dose of humor.

"It does the stuff my favorite TV shows and movies do, which is to combine genres that shouldn't fit together," Abrams said. "It's definitely meant to scare the hell out of you, but it's also meant to make you laugh... It pushes all the buttons of things we loved from our childhood."

Driving the show will be the Walter Bishop character, a larger-than-life figure who bears some resemblance to the titular character in Fox's "House." In the pilot, he's in a mental hospital.

"Imagine that your father is Frankenstein mixed with Albert Einstein," Orci said. "He's someone who has the mental ability to solve so many problems but is so different that communicating with them is almost impossible."

Greenlight for "Fringe" means there are now three projects at three different nets centering on characters exploring freaky mysteries a la "The X-Files."

CBS has given a series order to the Warners- and Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "11th Hour," which is based on a Brit format (Daily Variety, Sept. 19). And ABC has ordered six episodes of the Zak Penn-produced "Section 8," which involves a team of investigators with mental abnormalities (Daily Variety, Sept. 27).

Reilly said he believes the Eye and Alphabet shows are a bit more science-oriented, while "Fringe" delves a bit more into sci-fi.

"May the best show win," he said.

"Fringe" marks the first series commitment for Abrams since he signed his mega-deal with Warners last year. It also comes in the wake of news earlier this week that Abrams had set up a drama pilot, dubbed "Boundaries," at ABC with scribe Jill Soloway (Daily Variety, Oct. 4).

Abrams has turned in a pilot for HBO but is still talking to the cabler about the fate of the project. Kurtzman and Orci, who worked with Abrams on "Alias," are now readying a sequel to their summer smash "Transformers."[x]

FOX is definitely stepping their game up. They have Joss Whedon's ("Buffy The Vampire Slayer) new series Dollhouse which stars Eliza Dusku and now this X-Files inspired series by J. J Abrams. Let's see if they live up to the hype.