Deadline is reporting that The CW has ordered a retooling of The Lost Boys pilot after opting out of picking up the series back in May. According to the report, this reworking will also include recasting the entire pilot with the exception of two actors.
A planned series based on the horror classic from 1987 has been languishing in production hell for the last several years. At one point in 2016 Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) was attached to be the showrunner where the series would span 70 years with each season taking place in a different decade. When Thomas returned to Veronica Mars, the project was given to Heather Mitchell (Scandal). Her script stuck closer to the film, with a mother and her two sons moving to Santa Clara after the death of their father. The pilot was directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) but The CW decided not to order The Lost Boys to series.
According to Deadline, while The CW loved the script, “not all elements in the pilot came together in the execution, including casting, thus their decision to re-pilot the project.”
The production made waves in March when it was announced that they would be gender-swapping the Frog Brothers, played in the film by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander, by casting Haley Tju and Cheyenne Haynes in the roles of the Frog Sisters. Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) was poised to play Jason Patric’s role of Michael.
While the majority of the cast of Mitchell’s failed pilot have now been released from their contracts, Dakota Shapiro and Medalion Rahimi both had their options extended. Shapiro will still play David, a role made famous by Kiefer Sutherland in the movie, while Rahimi will play Stella, a character based on Star, who was played by Jami Gertz.
There is no detailed information as to what changes will be made to the series, but Thomas and Mitchell will both continue to serve as executive producers. There is no word if Hardwicke will be back to direct the new pilot, which will likely film at the end of this year.
The series official plot synopsis reads:
After the sudden death of their father, brothers Michael and Sam Emerson move to Santa Carla with their mother, Lucy, who hopes to start anew in the town where she grew up. But the brothers soon find themselves being drawn deeper and deeper into the seductive world of Santa Carla’s eternally beautiful and youthful undead.
The film has a legion of fans, and a pretty fun, straightforward premise that I feel would transition quite well to the smaller screen, even if I was wary about this when it was announced. The Lost Boys is one of my favorite movies, and The CW is probably the last network I would want to watch a series based on the film. I was lukewarm to the news about the casting and the pilot itself, but my interest has been piqued again knowing they’re re-tooling it. But I know better than to set high expectations for this.
What do you think? Any interest in this new reworking of The Lost Boys?
