George R.R. Martin’s ‘Nightflyers’ Gets Pilot At Syfy US
As we mentioned a few months ago, Syfy US had started to develop an adaptation of the George R.R. Martin novella ‘Nightflyers’. Now things have moved on, and they have greenlit the filming of a pilot episode it has been announced.
The story is set in the future, on the eve of Earth’s destruction. A team of scientists and a telepath take a journey aboard the ‘Nightflyer’ – the most advanced ship in the galaxy – to intercept a mysterious alien spacecraft that might hold the key to their survival. As the crew nears their destination, they discover that the ship’s artificial intelligence, alongside a reclusive captain, may be steering them into deadly and unspeakable horrors out in the dark reaches of space…
For all you ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ book fans out there, don’t panic. Martin has no direct involvement with this project, so it won’t distract him from finishing ‘The Winds of Winter’… eventually…
The ‘Nightflyers’ TV series is being adapted by Jeff Buhler (Jacob’s Ladder) and produced by Universal Cable Productions with Hypnotic (‘Suits’, ‘Covert Affairs’). Whilst this is still only a pilot, the production companies are setting up a writers room to create additional scripts should things move forward, so it seems like they are pretty confident it will.
This isn’t the first time ‘Nightflyers’ has made it onto the screen. Back in 1987, a feature film was made starring Catherine Mary Stewart (Weekend at Bernie’s, The Last Starfighter), Michael Praed (Emmerdale, Casualty, Robin of Sherwood), and James Avery (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). You can see the trailer, in all it’s wonderful 80’s glory, below!
