It’s commonly known that George Lucas based a lot of the spaceship-to-spaceship combat in the original Star Wars on footage of World War II aerial dogfights. In 2012, Lucas executive produced Red Tails, an actual movie about World War II aerial dogfights. It was just like Star Wars, but without all of the cool lasers and stuff. Now, Chris Carter—creator of The X-Files, another beloved sci-fi franchise—is also getting a chance to tell a story about one of the real-life progenitors of his most famous series. And just as Lucas’ did before him, Carter’s new project looks like it’s going to strip all of the sci-fi elements out, despite the fact that the show will be about Area 51, and sci-fi stuff would actually be a natural fit.
In addition to AMC’s recently announced new slate of shows, the network has also revealed Carter is working on the tentatively titled Area 51. Unfortunately for anyone hoping to see a cameo from The Cigarette Smoking Man (or whatever), the show will be an adaptation of Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, a best-selling account of the real history behind every conspiracy theorist’s favorite spot in the Nevada desert. AMC further describes the show as “a contemporary conspiracy thriller revealing the true story behind the infamous Area 51, America's most mysterious military installation.”
Although nobody is coming right out and saying it, references to this being a “true story” and “based on a book” imply Carter’s Area 51 won’t actually feature any crashed flying saucers or secret alien autopsies—because duh, that stuff doesn’t really happen at Area 51. It happens at all of the other secret government facilities you don’t know about.