Exclusive: Black Hole Series In Development For Disney Plus
A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot reports that a live-action Black Hole series is currently in development.
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The Black Hole has been called a Star Wars knock-off. This is pretty brutal for a science-fiction movie Disney invested in so heavily. It was the most expensive production Disney had done in 1979, with $26 million down between production and advertising. In 2020, Disney relaunched the movie on Disney+, giving it fresh life via the streaming revolution. Now, we’re hearing they have bigger plans for the property. A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot reports that a live-action Black Hole series is currently in development.
Our source confirmed that the new series will be based on the 1979 movie. They also shared that the Black Hole series will be a live-action and big-budget production. It’s being developed for release on Disney+, where the original movie is currently streaming.
We don’t know how they plan to handle the story for the Black Hole series, but we’re definitely curious. Will they go for a family-friendly series on Disney+, or will they lean more heavily into the eerie elements in the movie for adults? The original movie was rated PG. That rating was a landmark for Disney, who had only produced G movies up to that point.
There was definitely a sinister vibe in the movie that they could better explore today in the Black Hole series. In the trailer Disney made in 2020 to promote the movie releasing on their streaming service, the music was dark and they seemed to be heavily pushing the series toward an adult audience. Will they try to pitch the Black Hole series as a darker Star Wars? Will they continue to put V.I.N.C.E.N.T. front and center? The robot was often compared to R2D2, further pushing the Star Wars comparison, but also, who doesn’t love a robot companion?
While the special effects in the 1979 movie may look simple today, The Black Hole was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects at the time. Disney went all-in on this movie. Despite that, it was a box office flop, and one that was hit hard by critics. That being said, there are plenty of people catching it on Disney+ streaming today, and many call it “the best movie you never saw”. There’s a dangerous situation with a black hole, there’s a cute robot named V.I.N.C.E.N.T., there are terrifying drones in black robes, there’s the eerie element of discovering a creepy recluse living alone on a spaceship for 20 years.
Mining old intellectual property for reboots has become a standard business practice in Hollywood, one that’s still being approached with a variety of strategies. We’re often seeing beloved movies or series come back in a new way, often to the distress of fans. The Black Hole series currently in development sees Disney taking an interesting story that didn’t hit the first time around, and taking the risk of making something new that potentially hits better. It doesn’t have the same built-in audience that a prior hit would, so it’s more of a risk, but an interesting one. Hopefully, the series lands better than the film did.
