Minority Report: Biggest change from the movie revealed at Fox TCA

When Minority Report debuts on Fox this fall, there is at least one major different the adaptation has from Steven Spielberg’s film of the same name: The male pre-cogs are no longer identical twins.

Set 10 years after the end of PreCrime in D.C., Minority Report follows one of the pre-cogs, Dash (Stark Sands), who can see crimes before they happen. As he struggles to lead a “normal” human life, he remains haunted by visions of the future until he meets Detective Vega (Meagan Good), who just may help him find a purpose to his gift. In juxtaposition, his estranged brother, Arthur (Nick Zano), uses his powers for personal gain.

Though Sands was initially slated to portray both roles, Zano joined the cast in June in order to help bolster story lines as well as ease production. “What became really evident was that it was better storytelling,” executive producer Justin Falvey said on the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour. “It was purely about storytelling and having better opportunities.”

“It also came down to production,” added executive producer Darryl Frank. “Stark is going to be working 15 hours a day as it is, so to have him also play this other character made it really difficult for us. To have somebody that contrasts Stark and what Stark brings to it, that’s another thing that gives us a lot more storytelling possibilities.”

Though Sands actually has a twin brother in real life, casting someone with a very different energy was key to the story. “Dash gets these visceral, visual fragments and they have an emotional impact having to see people die,” executive producer Max Borenstein said. “It’s the reason why he can’t go off and live off on his own and he can’t exploit it because that’s traumatic to him.

“Arthur, on the other hand, gets the factual half of the equation — the names and bits of information — that come to him in this way that’s detached,” he continues. “It allows him to not have that same emotional reaction to all of this. As a result of that, he’s more Machiavellian, he’s more manipulative, he’s resentful of the people who did this on a very deep level, and above all, he’s protective to make sure this never happens again because if anyone finds out who these pre-cogs are, they’re going to be exploited.”

Still, the producers don’t think the change will deter viewers from tuning in. “The twins weren’t really featured in that way, so you never really got to know them as humans and characters, so hopefully the fans will go with us,” Frank said.

Minority Report will debut Monday, Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.