George R.R. Martin's 'Nightflyers' is Ready for Takeoff
by EG
An adaptation of a 1980 novella by Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin launches this week on Syfy. Read on to find out more about this very different kind of adventure.
[This story contains spoilers for the series premiere of Syfy's Nightflyers.]
There are thousands of worlds out there in the universe — at least, thousands of worlds in the universe as imagined by George R.R. Martin, the architect behind HBO's Game of Thrones franchise, Hulu's forthcoming Wild Cards adaptation, as well as the newest series on the block: Syfy's Nightflyers.
Based on Martin's 1980 novella of the same name, Nightflyers focuses on the crew of a spaceship known as the Nightflyer, traveling through the stars in order to make first contact with an alien species. What starts as a mission of scientific exploration and curiosity quickly devolves into high-stakes terror, as the passengers of the Nightflyers begin encountering deadly phenomenon they can't possibly understand.
Martin's original Nightflyers tale, which was adapted as a feature film in 1987, was one of several stories set in what he's described as "The Thousand Worlds" universe. For executive producer and showrunner Jeff Buhler, the television version of Nightflyers aims to barrel headlong into those worlds, beginning with what he hopes is the first of multiple seasons inspired by Martin's dangerous storytelling sensibilities.
The danger is front and center within the first minutes of the blood-filled season premiere, which bowed Sunday on Syfy. The violent conclusion will be known in short order, too, as Syfy plans to air all 10 episodes of Nightflyers' first season by Dec. 13, a release strategy that hybridizes weekly viewing with the streaming service era's bingeing habits. In the interview ahead, Buhler explains that strategy, outlines the bold science-fiction storytelling he hopes to explore, the ways in which Martin inspired the adaptation, and much more.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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