Cary Fukunaga & David Lowery Are Remaking EXPLORERS For Television

Well THIS is very unexpected.

By Nov. 06, 2018

Joe Dante's Explorers is a movie we don't talk about often enough, but that's probably gonna change in the wake of the following news: 

"Cary Fukunaga and David Lowery are teaming to write a pilot script for Paramount Television based on the beloved 1985 Joe Dante-directed Explorers, the coming-of-age sci-fi film that starred Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix. Fukunaga and Lowery will write the script and bible, and one of them will direct the pilot should it get to that."

There's a lot to unpack here!

For starters, Explorers strikes us as a perfectly good remake candidate, especially with these guys leading the charge. The original film - which involves a trio of boys managing to build their very own spaceship before mixing it up with aliens on an interstellar adventure - is one we think back on fondly, but not exactly untouchable. Combine Fukunaga's attention to detail with Lowery's talent for delivering heartfelt drama, cast the three leads right, and slap a new coat of paint on the material with modern VFX technology, and you'll probably have something special. 

For another: we're wondering where these two will find the time. Lowery just announced his next film, an epic retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Fukunaga's gearing up to shoot the next James Bond movie. Neither of those projects sound like easygoing larks. Surely they know what they're doing, but ... damn, son. Y'all are gonna have your hands full for a minute.

And, finally, no word on where this project's headed. Fukunaga's established relationship with Netflix makes that partnership seem likely (also worth noting: Paramount Television just worked with that streaming service on The Haunting of Hill House), but of course there's no guarantee. Could go to Crackle! You don't know.

We're very intrigued by all of this, and curious to see how it shakes out. Stay tuned for further updates on the new Explorers (and all these other project Fukunaga and Lowery are working on) as they roll in. 

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