Yesterday, Netflix unveiled the trailer for its reboot of the 1965 television series Lost in Space. The spot is packed with high-budget science fiction action, including a powerful-looking alien robot, a tank-like land rover and a classic “spaceship races out of the collapsing chasm just in time” sequence. There’s all kinds of money onscreen, indicating this is probably Netflix’s next big power play into mainstream television.
Lost in Space ran for three seasons from 1965-1968, totaling 83 episodes. It’s remembered most as a sci-fi series that was a bit too ahead of its time in terms of what it could show onscreen, often depicting the more futuristic elements as corny or hokey. In other words, it just didn’t have the juice.
That makes Netflix’s attempt to revive the series in 2018 kinda exciting, because as evidenced by the trailer, there’s all kinds of room now to do giant sci-fi set pieces, introduce wild alien worlds and characters, and show just about anything they want. It’s neat, and it blows the storytelling possibilities wide open.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Zack Estrin emphasized that Lost in Space is aimed for a broad crowd rather than a niche sci-fi market: “There aren’t a lot of family shows that everybody can watch for themselves. There are very few things that adults and kids can enjoy together. I’ve shown this to my father, who’s 70, and my daughters, who are 11 and 14, and they all fell in love with it for different reasons.”
Lost in Space premieres on Netflix April 13.
