Sci-Fi Storm

It’s finally happening! The long, long developing (and awaited) reboot of Lost In Space looks like it will finally take off…we last reported in November that Netflix was at the head of the line for the rights and eyeing a straight-to-series order, which Netflix has now given, ordering up 10 episodes.

The show comes from Kevin Burns, who has been trying to re-launch the Jupiter 2 for years, and his partner Jon Jashni of Synthesis Entertainment, along with Neil Marshall and Marc Helwig of Legendary TV. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Dracula Untold, Last Witch Hunter) wrote the script and Zack Estrin (Prison Break) has joined as showrunner. Marshall will direct several of the episodes. No casting has been announced yet.

The original, which starred Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Angela Cartwright, Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris, and the voice of Dick Tufeld as the Robot, ran for three seasons. Starting out as a serious take on a family stranded on a strange planet in deep space, the character of Dr. Smith, originally a heartless saboteur, evolved into a bungling, inept buffoon character, and stories started to emphasize a campy element and the relationship between Smith, Will and the Robot.

Plans are for the new show to take some of cues from the original, although it is uncertain if they will adopt the campiness of the original, describing it as “a survival story for the ages.”

Cindy Holland, VP of Netflix Originals, said of the show, “The original series so deftly captured both drama and comedy, and that made it very appealing to a broad audience. 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.”

Well, we can’t wait!

It looks like Legendary TV’s planned reboot of Lost In Space has found an outlet in Netflix. Deadline reports that with multiple suitors in the mix, Netflix came out on top, with an eye to a straight-to-series order. Development is still taking place, with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Dracula Untold) writing and Neil Marshall likely to direct. Sazama, Sharpless and Marshall will executive produce along with Kevin Burns and Marc Helwig.

If at first you don’t succeed…producer Kevin Burns has been trying to reboot the various worlds of Irwin Allen for some time through his Synthesis Entertainment company. Two previous attempts to bring back Lost In Space were made, the first in the early 2000’s with the original cast but was shelved with the death of Jonathan Harris, and the second a 2004 backdoor pilot for a reboot that never aired. In addition, a pilot was shot for a new version of The Time Tunnel in 2006 but was not picked up.

Now it seems that Legendary TV really, really wants to get the Jupiter 2 off the ground – literally. They have teamed up with Kevin Burns to put the show back in development, and have set Dracula Untold scribes Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless to write the pilot. Burns and Legendary TV EVP Peter Johnson will join Sazama and Sharpless as executive producers.

Here are some of the big and our favorite stories we covered in 2012…

In January, rapidly rising British actor Benedict Cumberbatch joined Star Trek: Into Darkness, while CW’s Arrow dropped “Green” from the name and named Stephen Amell the lead actor.

We lost actor Ian Abercrombie and the voice of the Robot from Lost In Space Dick Tufeld.
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Another Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. this September 7th is [sfs=1047]Lost In Space[/sfs] – no, not the TV show, but the 1998 theatrical reboot of the franchise, starring William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman. An unsuccessful attempt to modernize the franchise into a series of movies, it was a visually spectacular feature, but tried to do too many things at once.
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I was just told by Martin Grams today that Roy Thinnes has indeed contracted to appear at this convention in September.

Also at this convention, of interest to SF fans, will be Mark Goddard from Lost in Space and Van Williams of The Green Hornet. Roy Thinnes starred as David Vincent in the Invaders, and as Roger Collins in the 1992 Dark Shadows remake.

Check out the details here: http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2010/03/roy-thinnes-invaders-will-be-guest-at.html

The 2010 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is taking place this year in Maryland from Sept 23-25. Mark Goddard from Lost in Space will be one of the many guests, and there will be lots of science fiction stuff on the menu.

To check out videos from previous conventions (a radio re-enactment of a sci fi ep, and Martin Grams Jr. giving a talk on the Twilight Zone) check out: http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2010/02/theater-of-mind-old-time-radio-at-2010.html

Another bad week for the genre…veteran actor/stuntman Bob May, who donned the metal suit of Robot B9 (primarily know as just “Robot” for most of the series), passed away earlier today from congestive heart failure at the age of 69.