It’s official – Nightflyers is coming to the small screen. Syfy confirmed in a recent press release that they have ordered the promising space adventure series, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s 1980 novella of the same name.
The news of Nightflyers’ pickup dropped about seven months after Syfy first disclosed they were developing the series, which revolves around a group explorers who journey to the far reaches of the solar system aboard the show’s eponymous ship in an attempt to find alien life and rescue a dying Earth.
Syfy also revealed some critical information regarding casting and production. Gretchen Mol from Boardwalk Empire will star as Dr Agatha Matheson. Daniel Cerone (The Blacklist) has signed on as show-runner and will executive produce along with series scribe Jeff Buhler and Martin himself, although Martin’s day-to-day involvement will be minimal. This is owing to his commitment to a different project already in the pipeline: completing the long-awaited sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, on which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based.
Nightflyers will be co-produced by Universal Cable Productions and Netflix, which secured first-run rights to the series outside of the US. Further production details and premiere dates still to come.