George R.R. Martin’s ‘Nightflyers’ To Shoot In Ireland With “Substantial Budget”
‘Game Of Thrones’ creator (and world’s slowest author) George R.R. Martin took some time out from not finishing ‘The Winds of Winter’ to give a little update on the status of ‘Nightflyers’, a project from Syfy US & Netflix based on one of his novellas.
Writing on his Livejournal, Martin revealed he has recently met with the series writer/creator, Jeff Buhler (‘Jacob’s Ladder’, ‘The Midnight Meat Train’), and showrunner Daniel Cerone (‘The Blacklist’, ‘Constantine’, ‘Dexter’, ‘Charmed’) to chat about the show. Martin himself is under exclusive contract with HBO, so won’t have any direct involvement with the series… which is good. It’s not like he needs any more distractions from finishing that GoT novel!
In the original novella, 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…
After reading the pilot, Martin goes on to say the adaptation “departs considerably from my novella in certain details, the essence of the story remains the same — and I thought the teleplay was quite strong on its own terms, and a good launching point for a series.”
The 10 episode 1st season will be shot in Limerick, Ireland, which means they can utilise some of the excellent Irish and British actors from Martin’s other show, ‘Game Of Thrones’. As he jokes, “considering how many characters we’ve killed, a lot of them should be available.” He also revealed the show has a “substantial budget” and “one that should allow them to create a show that looks as good as modern audiences expect.”
Syfy will air ‘Nightflyers’ in the US, with Netflix taking the international screening rights, meaning it should appear on Netflix UK. The show is currently in casting and pre-production, but according to Martin, “if all goes according to schedule, the series should debut this summer, in late July [2018].”
We’ll bring you more when we have it.
