The Lost Boys New Pilot Moving Forward at CW

The CW isn’t giving up on its attempt to reboot the cult-classic teen vampire movie The Lost Boys as a modern TV series, despite the pilot not meeting expectations. After fans were given a glimmer of hope from producers that The Lost Boys would still be making its way on the air, it’s now being reported that CW’s Lost Boys is indeed being reworked, and the new pilot is moving forward.

According to what producer Lost Boys executive producer Rob Thomas told Deadline at TCA presentation on Friday:

“The writer, Heather Mitchell, is doing a rewrite on the script right now, we have gotten through the notes process. We are going to shoot the pilot this fall.”

As for what, exactly, the reshoots will mean for the series? Thomas reveals that:

“There were scenes that we thought we could do a better job on, so it’s going through a 40% rewrite. It’s not a total rewrite.”

That quote may be downplaying what kind of creative reset this actually is for CW’s Lost Boys. While the script may only be reworking 40% of its narrative, the series is only extended the options of two stars, Medalion Rahimi and Dakota Shapiro, who play David and Stella, the characters played by Kiefer Sutherland and Jami Gertz in the original films. A new cast of co-stars are being brought in to fill out the other characters in the reshoot.

Thomas has been sticking with this Lost Boys series like a true soldier, and has refused to give up the fight:

“It’s been four years that I have been playing around with Lost Boys, trying to get it made… Two years ago, I wrote a very outside-the-box version of it. The network didn’t want to go that far outside the box. So fortunately, the writer who is working on it right now, Heather Mitchell, loves the original movie and is eager to make the series look a little bit more like the original Lost Boys. It’s two human brothers showing up in this California beach town with the amusement park and a vampire infestation. It’s going to have a lot in common with the movie.”

While creative experimentation is always encouraged, it’s probably safe to say that most fans of the original Lost Boys will probably be relieved to hear that Mitchell is hewing much closer to the original film. To his credit, Thomas is onboard with the direction this new series is taking – even if it’s not his direction:

“It’s exciting. I had a way I wanted to do it that was exciting to me. Once the network didn’t want to do it, I was eager to give them the version they would like to put on the air, usually that’s just smart television producing. I think it would’ve been very hard for me but I love that she is doing it, I love that she is a big enough fan of the movie that she wants to keep it a lot more recognizable.”

We’ll keep you updated on the status of The CW‘s Lost Boys reboot.