Syfy, the network formerly known as Scifi, has development on a television show based on the classic novel The Lotus Caves. Bryan Fuller, creator of Pushing Daisies, is writing the script alongside collaborator Jim Grey.
This is fantastic news, as Fuller is a genius of the same caliber as J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, and Ron Moore. Aside from creating the brilliant Pushing Daisies, he also worked on Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls (another brilliant show that fell victim to Fox’s Friday night death slot), and the few episodes of Heroes that were worth watching. I love the light-edged fun of Warehouse 13 and Eureka as much as the next guy, but Syfy has been in need of some darker, grittier material since Battlestar Galactica ended, so I’m excited to see what Fuller comes up with, especially considering the heady themes that the book explores.
The Lotus Caves, first published in 1969, was written by Samuel Youd (under his pseudonym “John Christopher”). It tells the story of a rigidly structured colony on the moon called the Bubble, where “freedom” and “captivity” might just be one and the same. When two boys steal a rover and go joyriding outside of the Bubble, they crash through the moon’s surface to discover a “super-intelligent alien species” living there in a series of caves. (Don’t be surprised if Fuller and Grey change this moon setting to an alien world, to update the premise for modern audiences.)
Interestingly, back in 2007 it was announced that Walden Media had purchased the film rights and were planning a big-screen version of The Lotus Caves with visual effects artist Rpin Suwannath attached to make it his directorial debut. One has to assume that Walden’s version never materialized if Syfy is able to move forward with a small-screen adaptation.