The Lost Boys series pilot scrapped, to be reworked and reshot

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The CW seems determined to get a television series based on director Joel Schumacher's 1987 vampire movie THE LOST BOYS onto the air, but it's taking some time for them to find the approach they want to take to the material.

A few years ago, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas had an idea that I found interesting, a seven season story that would have followed the titular vampires through seven decades, each season being set in a different time period – the first season would have been set in the 1960s, and season 7 would have wrapped things up in the 2020s. But that idea didn't make it to the pilot stage.

Instead, The CW ordered a pilot written by Heather Mitchell that was more of a straightforward remake of the '87 film. Same basic set-up, same characters with tweaks here and there – like making the vampire-slaying Frog brothers the Frog sisters this time around. The synopsis: 

Welcome to sunny seaside Santa Carla, home to a beautiful boardwalk, all the cotton candy you can eat… and a secret underworld of vampires. After the sudden death of their father, two brothers move to Santa Carla with their mother, who hopes to start anew in the town where she grew up. But the brothers find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into the seductive world of Santa Carla’s eternally beautiful and youthful undead.

We kept an eye on updates as the pilot was assembled over the last few months. TWILIGHT director Catherine Hardwicke was brought on to helm the pilot, with familiar roles being filled by the likes of Sarah Hay, Tyler Posey, Kiele Sanchez, Medalion Rahimi, Dakota Shapiro, Rio Mangini, Del Zamora, Cheyenne Haynes, and Haley Tju.

Now The CW has viewed the finished pilot… and they're not moving forward with it. Instead, the pilot is going to be retooled and reshot. Deadline reports that The CW loved Mitchell's script, but  

not all elements in the pilot came together in the execution, thus the order for a reworked new pilot, which could feature recastings.

So The Lost Boys: The TV Show is still in the works, but they haven't fully figured it out just yet.

Mitchell is executive producing The Lost Boys with Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, Mike Karz, and Bill Bindley. Rebecca Franko is producing with Juliana Janes.