Akiva Goldsman and Legendary Television plot re-imaginings of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants, and The Time Tunnel
Back in the 1960s, Irwin Allen created and produced the popular sci-fi TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants. Now, Deadline has broken the news that Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind), who recently co-created the shows Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is teaming with Legendary Television for re-imaginings of three of those Allen shows: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants. (Lost in Space had its own recent re-imagining with a series that ran on Netflix for three seasons, from 2018 to 2021.)
Deadline’s sources tell them that Goldsman and Legendary Television are crafting a unified vision for these stories, bringing modern sensibilities to their timeless appeal, and expanding upon his success in revitalizing the Star Trek universe. Jon Jashni serves as executive producer, guiding this effort to reintroduce these popular franchises to a new generation, with Derek Thielges co-producing.
Based on a 1961 film that Allen produced, directed, and co-wrote, the original Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series ran on ABC for four seasons, from 1964 to 1968. The show followed the adventures of the futuristic nuclear submarine Seaview and its crew, headed by Admiral Harriman Nelson and Captain Lee Crane. The Time Tunnel only ran for one season of 30 episodes, also on ABC, from ’66 to ’67. The set-up: Scientists Tony Newman and Doug Phillips invent a Time Tunnel which permits people to travel anywhere in time and space. But, while examining the tunnel, they end up getting trapped in time. Land of the Giants lasted for two seasons on ABC, from ’68 to 1970. That show followed the adventures of the crew members of Spindrift, a sub-orbital spaceship, that lands on a mysterious planet where everything is 12 times their original size on Earth. All four of Allen’s shows were produced by 20th Century Fox.
Neither Goldsman nor Legendary Television have shared any statements about their plans to bring the world re-imaginings of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants. So for now, we can only ask, what do you think about this idea? Are you a fan of the original shows, and are you interested to see what Goldsman and Legendary will do with the concepts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
