Syfy Adds Even More Sci-Fi To Their Line-Up With Dark Matter

By David Wharton | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

DarkMatterSyfy just isn’t stopping, and for the first time in a long time, that’s actually a good thing. Their intriguing event series Ascension, starring Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer, premieres next month, and Syfy’s future is packed with promising projects such as The Expanse, Old Man’s War, and Childhood’s End. Now we can add yet another project to the lineup of Syfy shows we can’t wait to see, an adaptation of the Dark Horse comics series Dark Matter.

Created by Stargate writer/producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, Dark Matter was a limited series that ran from January – April 2012. The story involves a group of people who awaken aboard a spacecraft with no memory of who they are or how they got there. With the vessel on course for a mining colony, the crew begins to discover the disturbing truth about their identity. Mallozzi has said that The Dirty Dozen, Thunderbolts, and the FX series The Shield all inspired the show.

Syfy has ordered Dark Matter straight to series, meaning we’ll get a full first season of 13 episodes right out of the gate. Mallozzi and Mullie will produce the series, and presumably serve as showrunners. The show will also be produced by Prodigy Pictures, the folks behind Syfy’s Lost Girl. Syfy’s senior vice president of programming Chris Regina said, “Dark Matter is a refreshing and entertaining space opera that blends an intriguing premise with fast-paced suspense. It will be a terrific addition to our prime time schedule next year.”

One interesting note is that Dark Matter was originally conceived by Mallozzi and Mullie as a TV series, but then transitioned into a comic series in the hopes of generating enough interest to eventually port it back over to the small screen. Mission accomplished, and further proof that Hollywood has a tendency to pay more attention if your idea already exists in the form of some other media, rather than just a raw idea itself.

It is so surreal to find that I’m genuinely excited about Syfy’s development slate of late. After finding success with Defiance and Helix, the network is now embracing its new mission with gusto, seemingly determined to become the premiere destination for quality science fiction television, as if to make up for all those years of disposable fluff in the years since Battlestar Galactica. Sure, it’s likely that not all of the shows they have in the works will be home runs, but damn is it nice to be rooting for Syfy to live up to its potential again.

Dark Matter will premiere on Syfy sometime in 2015.

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