Sci Fi TV News Briefs: Quick hits keeping you updated on sci fi and fantasy television news.
The Rise and Fall of House Targaryen: Yet another Game of Thrones prequel is in the works and close to getting the greenlight for a pilot. Set 300 years before the events of GoT, the series draws from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood and will focus on the rise and fall of the Targaryen family. That book tells the history of the family and covers such major figures as Aegon the Conqueror and Aegon the Dragonsbane. Martin will write the pilot script with Ryan Condal (Colony). Another prequel is already in the works with Jane Goldman at the helm and that one has cast Miranda Richardson, Marquis Rodriquez, John Simm, Richard McCabe, John Heffernan, and Dixie Egerickx in major roles. There are also several more series currently under consideration as additions to the franchise. Stay tuned for updates on this story in the coming weeks and months.
Apple TV Arrives: The new Apple TV+ streaming service now has a launch date and a price point. The new service will start streaming on November 1st and will cost $4.99 a month. That undercuts the $6.99 that Disney+ has set for its launch later in November and is less than half the cost of Netflix (currently at $12.99 and sure to increase soon). The scripted sci fi originals See (starring Jason Momoa) and For All Mankind will be available when the service launches.
Return to Dark Shadows: A continuation of 60’s gothic soap opera is in the works at The CW with Ghost Whisperer writer Mark B. Perry penning the script and with a working title of Dark Shadows: Reincarnation. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description for the project:
The re-imagined show will be a modern-day continuation of the strange, terrifying, and sexy saga of the Collins family of Collinsport, Maine — a mysterious, influential, publicity-shy group hiding a ghastly secret: For the past 400 years, they’ve lived under a curse that bedevils their blue blood with every imaginable supernatural creature and horror.
Perry refers to himself as a “first-generation fan” and claims that “it’s been a dream of mine to give Dark Shadows the Star Trek treatment since way back in the ’80s when Next Generation was announced”. The CW tends to have a younger-skewing audience, so expect to see plenty of attractive, young actors board the project. There was a previous revival of the series in 1991 that aired on NBC and lasted for only twelve episodes. The WB network (which merged with UPN to create The CW) produced a Dark Shadows pilot in 2004 but that never went to series. The CW will likely be adding the new revival to the upcoming Pilot Season in Spring 2020.
Production Notes: Uber-producer J.J. Abrams has signed a new mega-dollar deal with Warner Bros. to produce television series and movies for the company. Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) and Whoopi Goldberg (Star Trek: TNG) have been added to the cast of the CBS All Access reboot of Stephen King’s The Stand, with the former set to play Randall Flag and the latter cast as Mother Abagail. John Wesley Shipp has come onboard for The CW’s upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths cross-over, likely reprising his role as the Earth-3 Flash. Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones) has been cast as Sam Vimes in the upcoming BBC adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books.
More from CancelledSciFi.com:
Keep up with the ratings developments and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts. And join the #CancelledSciFiArmy on Twitter to bolster our ranks and help us fight for the struggling and cancelled sci fi and fantasy shows.
Check out our Sci Fi TV Schedule for debut and season finale dates and follow our Weekly Listings for a rundown of the shows airing in the current week.
Look back at the classics of sci fi and fantasy television with Classics Sci Fi TV.
