A reboot of teen alien drama Roswell is in the works
US network The CW has ordered a pilot which will take the series in a new direction
US network The CW has commissioned a pilot for a reboot of Roswell, the supernatural teen drama which starred Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr and Katherine Heigl.
The new take will have an immigration twist, reports Entertainment Weekly, centring around an undocumented immigrant who returns to Roswell, New Mexico, and discovers that her teenage crush is an alien with otherworldly abilities.
Like its predecessor – which aired in the UK on Sky One from 1999-2002 – the new pilot is based upon Melinda Metz's novel Roswell High. It adds some fictional colour to the various conspiracy theories surrounding a US military base in the titular small town, which was believed to be housing a UFO that crash landed in 1947.
A statement from The CW details the plot: “After reluctantly returning to her tourist-trap hometown of Roswell, New Mexico, the daughter of undocumented immigrants discovers a shocking truth about her teenage crush who is now a police officer: he’s an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life."
"She protects his secret as the two reconnect and begin to investigate his origins, but when a violent attack and long-standing government cover-up point to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him and destroy their deepening romance.”
The news comes just days after the CW confirmed that it would be rebooting supernatural drama Charmed, an announcement which was met with ire from the original show's star Holly Marie Combs: