What happens when a trip into space to save humanity needs saving itself? Dean Devlin is going to let us know. The Syfy Network has just picked up a new show called The Ark from the producer of mega sci-fi hits such as Independence Day, Stargate, and Universal Soldier.
Set 100 years in the future, The Ark is about a group of humans who set off to colonise another planet on a ship called Ark One. On the way, the ship has a massive disaster and the few remaining survivors must keep themselves alive if they want to save all of humanity. Devlin, who started his career by writing and producing the aforementioned films with Roland Emmerich, will write the series and serve as co-showrunner with Jonathan Glassner. Glassner famously turned Devlin and Emmerich’s Stargate into the hugely successful Stargate SG-1. “I’m so excited to have the opportunity to partner with Syfy again and can’t think of a better collaborator than Jonathan Glassner to bring this series to life,” Devlin said in a statement to Variety.
Syfy has been on a bit of a run lately, experiencing success with new shows like Resident Alien and Chucky — and the network sees The Ark as more of the same. “The Ark is a perfect fit for Syfy audiences and we know fans will gravitate to this heart-racing story from Dean Devlin, one of the most accomplished and respected sci-fi writers working today,” Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBCU Entertainment and Streaming, said. “With the recent success of both Resident Alien and Chucky, the network is home to several of the most creative storytellers working in all of television.”
To start, Syfy has order 12 episodes of the show, though you’d imagine Devlin and Glassner would hope for more. The story’s basic set-up, however, feels like a great place to start: a crew of humans who thought they were going to repopulate another world for humanity, now struggling to survive to even have a chance at that? It’s almost like space Lost and maybe getting to the planet and seeing how that works is the season-finale hatch.