Netflix Orbits Around ‘Lost in Space’ Reboot
Netflix, the reviver of long-dormant television shows, is planning to reboot another beloved franchise: The Sixties sci-fi series Lost in Space. The streaming service won a bidding war to acquire the rights to the Irwin Allen-created series, which ran three seasons from 1965 to 1968. As part of the Netflix deal, the rebooted Lost in Space is in line to receive a straight-to-series order, Deadline reports.
Like the original series, which pitted the marooned Robinson family, the duplicitous Dr. Smith and “the Robot” against the mysteries of the universe, the Netflix series will once again follow that family’s travels. Dracula Untold writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have signed on to pen the series, described as a science fiction saga, while The Descent and Game of Thrones director Neil Marshall is on board to helm the pilot.
Lost in Space was previously rebooted as a less-than-stellar 1998 feature film that starred William Hurt, Gary Oldman and Matt LeBlanc. As Deadline notes, another Lost in Space series nearly launched on the WB in 2003 but the network turned down that reboot after viewing the pilot.
Netflix has become a haven to cult classic television shows and movies primed for a second wind as the streaming service has brought back Wet Hot American Summer, Arrested Development, Full House (the upcoming Fuller House), Mr. Show (the spinoff series With Bob and David) and, most recently, Gilmore Girls. That’s on top of all the streaming service’s original programming, like the new Marvel series Jessica Jones, Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation and Adam Sandler’s controversial Ridiculous 6.