Cary Fukunaga and David Lowery are two of the most interesting filmmakers working today. Fukunaga has had incredible success with his TV series “True Detective” and “Maniac,” as well as the Netflix film “Beasts of No Nation.” Lowery, on the other hand, has found success recently with “The Old Man & the Gun,” as well as previous films like “A Ghost Story.” Now, the two directors are coming together for a new project that looks to remake a cult classic film from the ‘80s.
Deadline is reporting that Fukunaga and Lowery are working together to develop a TV series based on the 1985 Joe Dante film “Explorers.” The 1985 film tells the story of a group of young boys (including the very young Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix), who work together to build a spaceship to explore outer space. “Explorers” was a financial flop but achieved cult status thanks to its release on VHS.
The two filmmakers will work together to write the script for the pilot and the “bible” for the series. It’s still undecided who will take the job of directing the pilot, though it’s assumed one of the two will do that as well.
Finding out who directs the pilot (if it’s ordered, that is) will probably come down to who has the time. Fukunaga is coming off the aforementioned “Maniac,” and is immediately jumping into directing the upcoming James Bond film, tentatively titled “Bond 25.” Lowery is also coming off a big project, the Robert Redford film “The Old Man & the Gun,” and was just announced as the director for an upcoming project titled “Green Knight.”
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Both men have some TV experience, with Fukunaga working on two previous series and Lowery co-creating and directing the first two episodes of “Strange Angel” for CBS All Access.
We’ll have to keep an eye on “Explorers” to see if it gets picked up for a pilot, but barring anything crazy, Paramount TV would be nuts not to at least order one episode of this collaboration.