A&E's Psycho prequel Bates Motel, has started production in Vancouver

The word on the street is the new Bates Motel will be a modern interpretation of Norman Bates as laid out in the original novel by Robert Bloch and movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Most of the show will have the same premise, for instance… Norma (Vera Farmiga) runs a motel (of course), and Norman (Freddie Highmore) and his mother are still very much attached at the hip.

The rub is that the series takes place in present-day, and Norman will be getting himself an older brother in this series who basically will be Norman’s complete opposite. Instead of being an introvert, he will be an extrovert, a macho, motorcycle-riding rebel, with no real ties to Norman and his mother who ditched the older brother named “Dylan” (Max Thieriot), when his family moved and left him behind.

One other difference that might intrigue fans of the series  include learning more about Norman’s dad – not saying he will be in the show, just that in this version Norman actually investigates his death and wants to learn more about him. Also, instead of Norman being in his mid to late 20’s, Norman is a 16-year-old high school student in the pilot episode which is totally different than the movie.

Having Norman so young in this version makes it a “prequel” and it opens up more back story for the Norman Bates we all know and love. In the movie Norman kills his mom in his late teens, so if the writers follow that path, Norman will probably take out his Mother in the third season. However, in the book Norman didn’t kill his mom till way later, which gives the writers an out to keep Norma Bates around for a while.

However the writers want to play it out, we know this much for sure. Filming of Bates Motel starts today October 1st – January 24th, 2013 with a 2013 air date.

Felix Kay,
Follow Felix on Twitter: @TheFelixKay