Syfy’s attachment to its sci-fi origins has grown tenuous—a quick glance at its programming lineup reveals there are only two shows in that realm (have fun guessing which). Still, adaptating 12 Monkeys was a great call, and The Expanse has been solid, too. Despite that recent success, Syfy isn’t giving up on its toehold in other genres. Deadline reports the network is still moving forward with supernatural horror-drama The Haunted, a pilot from author James Frey and Todd Cohen. The script comes from The Magicians’ Noga Landau, who’s written the first chapter in the story of four siblings who must confront real and figurative specters after their parents’ death.
Syfy’s also ordered a pilot for The Machine, a small-screen adaptation of Caradog James’ 2013 film. That AI thriller was set during a fictional cold war with China, a conflict that pushes cyborg technology out of dreams and into reality. The pilot will focus on the struggle between “man and technology through the lives and motivations of six interwoven characters—each of whom holds the key to humanity’s victory or its destruction.” James will executive produce along with John Giwa-Amu, who produced the original film.
Also included in Syfy’s development bounty is a pilot order for an adaptation of Happy!, Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel. The Imagic Comics book centers on Nick Sax, drunk former cop who’s now making a killing as a hitman. Sax is “adrift in a world of casual murder, soulless sex and betrayal,” which sounds bad enough, but then he meets a “relentlessly positive” miniature blue Pegasus. That’s Happy, a Great Gazoo-like character who, despite being a figment of someone else’s imagination, starts following Sax around. Morrison and Brian Taylor (Crank) are writing and executive producing the pilot.