Paramount is working on a new Aeon Flux series, this time one that is live-action.
This is an interesting choice as the reaction to 2005’s live-action was middling at best. The film didn’t set the box office on fire, nor did it appease fans of Peter Chung’s animated series.
I didn’t mind the movie but it came out at a time when there was a glut of “badass models in action light sci-fi films”. Ultraviolet, Resident Evil (a favorite film series of mine), Underworld, Elektra, and Tomb Raider were everywhere, and most felt very analogous to me. Not that they were bad movies, but I think Aeon Flux just felt like “another” of similar films.
As for the original animated series and shorts? Back in the 90s I was a big fan of MTV’s Liquid Television and discovered the unique, disturbing, violent, and entrancing world of Aeon Flux. The movie was fine but it did not capture that sense of uniqueness the shorts and later animated series did. This is likely due to the logistics and budget required to translate the ultraviolence and quirky imagery at the time.
The big question is who is the audience for this series? I certainly will give it a shot, but I don’t think we have hit a point of nostalgia for the Charlize Theron film, and the animated series was a niche with the alternative 90s teens. Most kids in my peer group were big on basketball at the time. The rest into grunge music. Cartoons weren’t exactly cool. Meanwhile, in 1995, I was excited about shows like the half-hour version Aeon Flux and Baywatch Nights. Baywatch Nights was right up my alley. However, taking Aeon from 3-5 minute surreal shorts to a serialized story even left me a bit cold. Stretching the premise and having *gasp* dialogue took me out of the universe. It still worked, but I wasn’t as enthralled as I had been a few years prior.
I am cautiously optimistic, as maybe the streaming format will allow more freedom and time to tell an intriguing story without the worry of MPAA ratings. Maybe, at the least, we will get some rad merchandise.
No date has been given for the series which is to be helmed by Teen Wolf creator Jeff Davis.