Netflix is rebooting Lost In Space

With traditional TV networks threatening to pull back more of their content from Netflix in hopes of retaining cable subscribers, Netflix’s addition of family-friendly fare like Lost in Space could be seen as a direct counter-attack.

Rumors of a Lost in Space remake first emerged a year ago, and Deadline reports that the show had multiple bidders “in a competitive situation”. It may be on the darker side of things, though, as The Last Witch Hunter and Dracula Untold writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will write the script.

“We’ve obviously been developing Lost in Space for a long time, and we’ve had a couple of false starts”, said executive producer Kevin Burns. There was also a late 1990s movie based on the show. The series originally aired for three seasons from 1965-1968, with a total of 83 episodes.

The project is being spearheaded by Synthesis Entertainment, a production company formed with the goal of bringing Irwin Allen’s work back into popular culture. Allen also made the disaster films “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno”, which earned him the title of “Master of Disaster.” The series revolved around the Robinson family and its robot ready to explore a planet around Alpha Centauri until the nefarious Dr. Smith sabotaged the whole thing, sending them way off course, visiting a variety of planets in the process.

Despite the success of Lost in Space in pop culture terms, it has struggled to reinvent itself, particularly when compared to its 1960s-era contemporary, Star Trek, which has launched a succession of hit reboots.

It was rebooted once before in a 1998 feature film that got a bad reception. Today on its golden anniversary year, the series has been given another lease on life by way of a reported Netflix deal.