News, updates, and (mostly viable) rumors relating to development of science fiction / fantasy television productions. If you have tips or more info on these or other productions, please pass them along in the comments.
Still no slow down on television development with ten more announcements that I have seen over the past two weeks. Reboots, spin-offs, and season long anthologies appear to be the order of the day among this group.
Lost in Space
Network: Netflix
Production Team: Kevin Burns (Executive Producer), Matt Sazama (Writer), Burk Sharpless (Writer)
Status: Early Development
About: Netflix has given a straight to series order for this reboot of the 1960’s Irwin Allen series of the same name. Source: EW
Comments: Kevin Burns has been working on this for a while, previously with Sheila Allen, Irwin’s widow. The property was previously rebooted on the big screen in 1998 and a TV reboot was attempted with 2004’s The Robinsons: Lost in Space, though that never went past the pilot stage.
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Merc City (Riddick Spin-Off)
Network: No Network Attached yet
Production Team: Vin Diesel (Executive Producer)
Status: Very Early Development
About: “MERC CITY is a show that will follow the Mercs and Bounty Hunters of the Riddick Universe.” Source: The Wrap
Comments: The announcement of this series accompanied word that a fourth Riddick film is in the works named Furia. Due to Vin Diesel’s busy schedule, it could be 2017 before either the TV show or the movie see the light of day.
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MST3K
Network: No Network Attached
Production Team: Joel Hodgson (Creator/Executive Producer)
Status: Fundraising
About: MST3K creator Joel Hodgson has started up a Kickstarter campaign to finance up to twelve new episodes of the show which will be available through streaming. Campaign link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/bringbackmst3k/
Comments: As of this writing, the campaign has already surpassed its original $2 million goal (current at $2.5 million) which will finance three new episodes. The stretch goal is $5.5 million (18 days to go) which will cover a full season of 12 episodes.
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Channel Zero
Network: Syfy
Production Team: Nick Antosca (Creator/Writer/Executive Producer), Max Landis (Creator/Executive Producer)
Status: Early Development
About: This will be a season-long anthology series. The first six episode season will be titled “Candle Cove” and will be about “one man’s obsessive recollections of a mysterious children’s television program from the 1980s — and his ever-growing suspicions about the role it might have played in a series of nightmarish and deadly events from his childhood.” Source: The Wrap
Comments: Syfy has given this show a two season order, the first of which will debut around Halloween 2016.
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Snowpiercer
Network: No Network Attached Yet
Production Team: Josh Friedman (Executive Producer)
Status: Very Early Development
About: According to THR, the series will be based on the 2013 Chris Evans-starring film of the same name about survivors of an ice-age living on a train traveling throughout the world. Source: THR
Comments: This is very early in the development stage at this point with little in the way of details on the series. It would likely be 2017 at the earliest before anything comes to fruition on this.
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Cry
Network: The CW
Production Team: Kerry Lenhart (Writer/Executive Producer), John J. Sakmar (Writer/Executive Producer), Paulist Productions (Production Company)
Status: Early Development
About: “Cry tells the story of a doctor who makes the astonishing medical breakthrough to bring cryogenically preserved people back to life, starting with the unfreezing of his own father — but he never expects that restoring life will have both glorious and devastating consequences.” Source: Deadline Hollywood
Comments: This will likely be among the pilots that The CW will consider for the 2016-17 season.
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Haunted
Network: FOX
Production Team: William Brent Bell (Writer/Executive Producer), Chris Morgan (Executive Producer)
Status: Early Development
About: “Loosely based on the Bob Cranmer book The Demon of Brownsville Road, Haunted is described as a chilling horror series about a military agent who is partnered with her ex-boyfriend, now a rogue demonologist, to help a family overcome a deadly demonic infestation of their home. The season-long case investigates the true story of one the most haunted houses in America. The believer-vs.-nonbeliever duo, by solving the mystery of the present, will solve the mystery of their damaged past. At its core the series will explore the age-old question, ‘Is evil real?'” Source: Deadline Hollywood
Comments: This will likely be included in the pilots that FOX will be looking at for the 2016-17 season.
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Dead of Summer
Network: ABC Family
Production Team: Adam Horowitz (Creator/Executive Producer), Edward Kitsis (Creator/Executive Producer)
Status: Development
About: This will be a season-long horror anthology series. The Wrap gives the following information about the first season: “Set in the late 1980s, school is out for the summer, and a sun-drenched season of firsts beckons the counselors at Camp Clearwater, a seemingly idyllic Midwestern summer camp, including first loves, first kisses – and first kills.” Source: The Wrap
Comments: ABC Family (which will change its name to Freeform starting in 2016) has given a full-season commitment to this series which will likely bow mid-year or later.
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Hawaiian Dick
Network: NBC
Production Team: Johnny Knoxville (Executive Producer), Paul Lovett (Writer/Executive Producer), David Elliott (Writer/Executive Producer)
Status: Early Development
About: Based on the comic book series of the same name created by B. Clay Moore and Steven Griffin. “The project is described as a one-hour comedic action series that will mix procedural, humor and supernatural elements.” Source: THR
Comments: This will likely be among the pilots that NBC is looking at for the 2016-17 season.
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Son of Zorn
Network: FOX
Production Team: Phil Lord (Executive Producer), Chris Miller (Executive Producer), Reed Agnew (Executive Producer), Eli Jorne (Executive Producer)
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Johnny Pemberton, Cheryl Hines
Status: In Production
About: “Son Of Zorn employs a mix of live-action and animated lead characters. Upon arriving home on Earth for the first time in 10 years, Zorn (Sudeikis), a fully animated, legendary warrior, finds that reconnecting with his live-action son, Alan (Johnny Pemberton), and ex-wife, Edie (Cheryl Hines), while suffering through a mundane office job and the banality of suburban life, is harder than waging actual war in his distant, mystical homeland of Zephyria.” Source: Deadline Hollywood
Comments: FOX has ordered this to series and has it targetted for its 2016-17 season schedule.
