Danger, Will Robinson! Netflix sets their new Lost in Space series for a ten-episode first season
Irwin Allen’s space family Robinson is heading back to the small screen. As revealed last October, Netflix is developing a new Lost in Space series. Today, the streaming service has revealed that a 10-episode first season will debut in 2018. Planned as a one hour science fiction drama, the new Lost in Space hails from Legendary TV.
The new Lost and Space series is being reimagined by the feature writing team of Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Dracula Untold, Last Witch Hunter), with Zack Estrin (Prison Break) showrunning. The plan is for the new Lost in Space to take its cues from the original series. As such, it will center around the Robinson family, who are forced to come together in a time of crisis. Stranded light years from their intended destination, they find themselves battling a strange new alien environment and also their own personal demons. Equal parts family drama and sci-fi adventure, the new Lost in Space is officially described as being “a survival story for the ages.”
“The original series so deftly captured both drama and comedy, and that made it very appealing to a broad audience,” says Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President of Original Content. “The current creative team’s reimagining of the series for Netflix is sure to appeal to both fans who fondly remember the original and to create a new generation of enthusiasts around the world.”
Created by Irwin Allen, the original Lost in Space premiered on CBS in 1965 and went on to last for three seasons and 85 episodes. The series focused on the intergalactic adventures of The Robinson family, who were originally sent into the stars aboard the Jupiter 2 for colonization, but the vessel was sabotaged by the backstabbing Dr. Zachary Smith, whose efforts to disrupt the trip resulted in the clan being stranded in the cosmos.
Television reboots for Lost in Space have been attempted with both a 1970s cartoon and a 2003 live-action version, directed by legendary filmmaker John Woo, though neither were picked up to series. A feature film reboot of the series was released in 1998 featuring the likes of Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, and Lacey Chabert among its cast. The big screen treatment only had a moderate reception at the box office but is notable for being the first film to dethrone Titanic from the #1 spot at the box office upon release.
Zack Estrin serves as executive producer on the new Lost in Space alongside Sazama and Sharpless as well as Synthesis Entertainment’s Kevin Burns (The Curse of Oak Island, Ancient Aliens) and Jon Jashni (Godzilla, Pacific Rim) and Applebox’s Emmy-nominated director Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones, The Descent) and Marc Helwig. Marshall is also set to direct several episodes of the series.
