Sci Fi TV Production Report: Tracking the sci fi and fantasy shows currently moving into development/production based on the listings from Production Weekly. Note that appearing on that list does not guarantee that the series will move forward.
Production Weekly has not had many entries on sci fi and fantasy TV shows starting up production the last month or so. suggesting that work has slowed on genre properties. But there are some entries of interest from the past two weeks, and you can read more about those below.
Following are the genre entries of note included in the listings for July 16th and 23rd:
The Orville Season 4 (Prime Video)
The has been no official word on a fourth season of The Orville for four years since the third season wrapped up, though from time to time Seth McFarlane has mentioned that he is still working on it. But the latest Production Weekly listings do have an entry for The Orville Season 4 which suggests that the show could return at some point. Back in March of this year, McFarlane did give an update to The Hollywood Reporter while promoting the second season of Ted: “I will be honest with you: Season four is written. It’s just a question of when we have the time to produce it.”
He also said the Hulu is ready to go forward with the fourth season, so apparently it all depends on his schedule at this point. The show has been hovering around the Top 5 of our Summer poll, so there is definitely interest in this one coming back, and with it appearing in the latest Production Weekly list, perhaps things will finally start to move forward. Though note that this showed up twice in those listings in December 2024 and then disappeared for over a year and a half.
Afterlife with Archie (Disney+)
Another dark take on the Archie comics is on the way to television as Disney+ has officially given the greenlight to a live-action adaptation of the comic series by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla. Aguirre-Sacasa previously created Riverdale for The CW and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for Netflix, and now he and Greg Berlanti Productions are bringing this new series to the small screen. Following is the description provided by Deadline:
Afterlife with Archie turns the all-American town of Riverdale into a zombie-overrun apocalypse — where the only thing scarier than the undead is trying to survive your teenage years. When a supernatural spell from a certain teen-witch backfires, unleashing an army of the possessed dead upon Riverdale, Archie and his friends must fight to stay alive, testing the friendships, romances, and loyalties that have always held them together.
There is no word at this point on whether this will be a continuation on the previous Archie-based shows and bring back those actors, though they have pretty much aged out of those roles at this point. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will be executive producing, so fans of the prior shows should enjoy this one regardless, and it is currently targeting a Halloween 2027 premiere.
War Machines (Netflix)
The sequel to Netflix’s hit sci fi original movie War Machine was announced last month, and it now has an official title: War Machines. That is appearing in the latest Production Weekly listings, which indicates that work is beginning on the film. Creator Patrick Hughes will be returning, and while no casting announcements have been made at this point, it is expected that Alan Ritchson will be back as well. The first film is one of the top originals of all time for Netflix having spent seven weeks in that streamer’s Top 10. No story details are available on the sequel at this point, but Hughes previously said that he has a larger story arc for the sequels and this one will obviously be expanding on that. According to the What’s on Netflix site, the second movie is receiving a pretty hefty budget (for a streaming original) of between $50 million and $100 million, and with production starting, this will likely be looking at a late 2027 or early 2028 premiere.
Zoltar
Work has begun on the previously announced Zoltar TV series which takes place in the same universe as the 1988 Tom Hanks film Big. Developed by D. Christopher Campbell and Dashon English, it tells the story Walter Douglas, a terminally ill man who encounters a Zoltar machine and wishes he could turn back the clock. His wish is granted, but instead of simply becoming younger, he is transformed back into a teenager and must relive his life while being raised by his estranged adult daughter, Diane. This property has been floating around for a while, and now a listing for it is showing up in Production Weekly. It is unclear at this point if any network or streaming service is attached, and there have been no casting announcements yet.
American Villain: Grodd
This listing is showing up for the first time Production Weekly, and it is unclear what it is referring to at this point. A Jimmy Olsen series titled DC Crime has been in the works which is part of James Gunn’s “God and Monsters” phase for the DC heroes. It was also announced that Gorilla Grodd would be the main villain, so perhaps they are changing the title, or perhaps this is a movie or special focusing on the character. Stay tuned for more info on this one as I have not seen any mention of it from the main entertainment media sites.
Other genre entries from the listings for July 16th and 23rd: Robocop (Prime Video), Wonder Man Season 2 (Disney+)
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