Sci Fi TV News: Weekly digest of the recent news and updates relating to sci fi and fantasy television.
In the reboots-we-don’t-need category comes a reimagining of the 1963 classic Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds which will be adapted as a six-part mini-series by Universal International Studios. Deadline gives the following description of the property:
The Birds limited series is described as a visceral, present-day reimagining of Hitchcock’s classic set in Spezialy’s home state of Alaska with a murder mystery at the center and new characters, led by a new female protagonist, Myra Massey.
Inspired by the film and Daphne du Maurier’s short story it was loosely based on, The Birds introduces traveling magistrate Myra Massey as she returns to her isolated Alaskan hometown for a routine presumptive death hearing, expecting a simple cold case. Instead, she finds her childhood friend’s bullet-ridden body. When Myra is forced to step outside her role as judge to untangle the mystery, nature itself turns hostile with a wave of bird attacks. Now, Myra isn’t just trying to close a case, she’s fighting to survive in a place where death lurks in both the shadows and the skies.
The lead will be played by Sarah Snook (Predestination), and the series will be written by Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers, Watchmen). No network or streaming service is attached at this point, but with the Universal connection, it could be headed to Peacock.
An animated series is in the works based on the wildly popular fantasy children’s novels Warrior Cats by Erin Hunter. Those books follow five groups of ferrel cats split into clans–ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and SkyClan–who often find themselves in conflict with one another. That series has produced over 100 books and has sold over 90 million copies worldwide. The animated adaptation will come from Publishers Coolabi Group and Tencent Video, and A.C. Bradley (What..if?) will be joining as showrunner with Rodrigo Blaas (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia) pegged as director. No network or streaming service is attached at this point, but the property should draw plenty of interest.
The upcoming Christmas Special for Doctor Who, which was originally scheduled for December 2026, will likely get delayed, possibly to Easter 2027. Word is that they are still looking for the next actor to play the Doctor, which suggests that the person we saw at the end of the Season 15 finale will not be assuming the role. Russell T Davies has the story planned, which he claims left BBC execs “with jaws agape, loving it”, but they do not have the next face for the Doctor yet. Disney partnered with the BBC on Seasons 14 and 15, but they have since bowed out, and the BBC is looking for a new partner to help finance future seasons.
2014’s post-apocalyptic series The Last Ship is not currently available for streaming, but it will be sailing to Netflix in June 2026. That series, which follows a naval destroyer traveling around the coast of America after a virus has wiped out 80% of the world’s population, ran for five seasons on TNT, producing a total of 50 episodes. The entire series will be available for streaming starting June 22nd.
In production news, work has begun on the fourth season of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as well as Peacock’s adaptation of Dungeon Crawler Carl. You can read more about those in the latest Sci Fi TV Production Report.
In casting news, Andy Serkis (famous for his portrayal of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies) will be joining the voice cast of The Legend of Vox Machina in that show’s fourth season, which premieres this week.
Disney+ has given a July 1st premiere date for the second season of its animated series X-Men ’97. You can see the trailer for that one below.
Keep up with the latest sci fi TV news and discuss current and past shows at r/SciFiTV and stay up to date on the status of all the current sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts.
Sci Fi TV Premieres:
The Legend of Vox Machina (Prime Video): Following the team one year after the Chroma Conclave as they reunite to face “The Whispered One” (a version of Vecna), a long-slumbering evil and “darkest foe”. The season will feature the heroes facing supernatural villains, death cultists, and new challenges after initially separating to pursue personal lives. The first three Season 4 episodes will be available on Wednesday.
Also premiering this week is AMC’s The Interview with the Vampire (retitled The Vampire Lestat) which returns for its third season Sunday at 9 PM EST. You can see the three-month schedule of sci fi and fantasy TV shows at this link.
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