‘Lost in Space’ Showrunner Compares Reboot to ‘Jurassic Park’

Netflix today released the full trailer for its upcoming reboot of Lost in Space. Now the showrunner is offering new details about the science fiction series.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Zack Estrin, who previously worked on Prison Break, compares the series to another popular family adventure.

“This is a true family adventure in the vein of the original Jurassic Park,” Estrin says. “I don’t think there’s ever been another show like this on TV that has this size and scope, but also this emotion. There aren’t a lot of family shows that everybody can watch for themselves. There are very few things that are not reality shows that adults and kids can enjoy together. I’ve shown this to my father, who’s 70, and my daughters, who are 11 and 14, and they all fell in love with it for different reasons.”

Lost in Space follows the Robinson family after their exploratory space vessel hits an unidentified phenomenon that strands them on an unexplored planet. Estrin says the heart of the original 1963 Lost in Space series is still present in the reboot but has been updated for modern audiences.

“Fans of the original show should know we maintain the core of what was special about that experience of watching that as a child — that here’s this incredible family that’s off on this amazing adventure,” he says, “For new fans of the show, there’s a certain baggage associated with the title — ‘Oh, that’s that campy show from the ’60s,’ or, ‘That’s that movie from the ’90s that was … what it was.’ We are taking that core of an idea — the Robinson family is striving to hold together and survive in this incredible circumstance — and as much as this show is Lost in Space, it could be a shipwreck on an island. It just happens to be in space and we think it’s going to have a broad appeal beyond genre fans.”

One piece of the original show’s core that remains is the robot and its iconic line, “Danger, Will Robinson!”

Estrin says fo the robot, “The Robot was one of the hardest pieces of casting to do in the show because it’s such an iconic thing and something you can really get wrong. And it’s a different experience watching the show versus the trailer. You fall in love with this character. It’s less about how it looks than who it is.”

You can check out the poster for Lost in Space above.

Lost in Space arrives on Netflix on April 13th.