When it comes to the edgy-scary-funny 1987 film The Lost Boys, not only is there a cult following still going strong but its members closely track any news reports on a TV-series adaptation in development.
Now, finally, those rumors seem to be true.
The CW has ordered a pilot of a series based on The Lost Boys from Rob Thomas, creator of Veronica Mars and iZombie. Warner Bros Television and Gulfstream TV are also involved.
“The CW originally developed a series adaptation of the iconic 1987 Warner Bros horror comedy movie The Lost Boys with Thomas writing during the 2016-17 development season,” reported Deadline. “While the project didn’t go to pilot, the network brass remained very high on the title and had been looking to redevelop it.”
This is good news to fans of the film, which stars Keifer Sutherland, Jason Patric, and Jamie Gertz, and was directed by Joel Schumacher.
“The Lost Boys fans have gotten used to having their hopes dashed these past three decades. After all, rumors swirled for aeons about a possible sequel where Schumacher would return to direct a bunch of Lost Girls, and that project sadly never materialized,” reported Den of Geek.
“But when we heard that Rob Thomas, the man behind both the excellent Veronica Mars and iZombie, was behind a new TV series, we were pretty much immediately on board,” the writer continued.
No casting choices have been announced.
The original Lost Boys film had the tagline “Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.” Its plot follows two teenage brothers, played by Jason Patric and Corey Haim, who with their widowed mother move to a California town filled with vampires, led by a sexy “young” gang.
The film is considered a major influence on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, and The Vampire Diaries. The young actors in it were largely unknown, and after the film’s success went on to snare major parts in film and TV.
In its original incarnation, the young people in the film were meant to be even younger, reminiscent of Peter Pan. The title is a reference to the companions of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. But the director, Joel Schumacher, hated the concept of child vampires, and made the characters older and sexier.
The town of Santa Cruz, California, was used as the location of the film. Several thousand of the locals answered the casting call for extras. Each year the film is screened near the boardwalk that features in the movie in order to enjoy it once more.
The movie is also known for being the first one to star the two “Corey’s,” Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. Sadly, Corey Feldman was already using drugs while acting in the film. He is now an advocate for drug addict recovery and for stopping child sex abuse.
Schumacher has credited the cast with the reason for its success, not just the young actors but the rest. The older-character parts were played by Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, and Barnard Hughes.
It performed well at the box office, earning $32 million. It spawned a novelization and two direct to video sequels.
Reviews were mixed. Roger Ebert wrote that the film “Starts out well but ends up selling its soul….the ending of the film is just another one of those by-the-numbers action climaxes in which the movie is over when all the bad guys are dead.”
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But others credited it with attempting something different at the time. “Instead of having their vampires as stuffy counts in evening dress, producer Richard Donner and director Joel Schumacher take a Peter Pan approach, creating a teenage rock band style vampire,” wrote Cinema Blend.
“The Lost Boys has proven to be a classic. The movie has really held up well, and the effects look great compared to modern-day standards.”
Nancy Bilyeau, a former staff editor at ‘Entertainment Weekly,’ ‘Rolling Stone,’ and ‘InStyle,’ has written a trilogy of historical thrillers for Touchstone Books, published in nine countries. Her new book, ‘The Blue,’ is a spy story set in the 18th century, published in original paperback, ebook, and audiobook. For more information, go to www.nancybilyeau.com.