Nightflyers at SDCC 2018: Alien Meets The Shining

SYFY is always a solid presence at San Diego Comic-Con, and this year they invaded the Indigo Ballroom to bring fans one of their new shows: Nightflyers.

Based on a novella by George R.R. Martin, Nightflyers takes place in the not-too-distant future. Earth isn’t doing too well, and the human race is searching for a new home, but things are not all they seem about the ship. There is a lot of conflict in the show – some internal, some external – but the focus is mainly on the psychological, and what happens when something goes wrong and you’re trapped. Much of the cast was on hand for the inaugural panel, which included a video message from GRRM himself. They also debuted a brand-new trailer!

Horror fans may notice some homages throughout the season. 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Alien are all classic films that got a nod from the production team. Executive producer Jeff Buhler gleefully told us that they used the exact same lenses to film Nightflyers that were used on Alien. We were also instructed to pay close attention to the use of color, particularly when and how they use red.

Keep in mind, this is from GRRM, which means there’s a lot of death. We should all be used to this from GRRM by now! The cast talked about how they would fly through the script every week just to see if their character survived the episode. I’d caution you against having a favorite character, because it’s always your favorite character who dies.

The arc of season 1 focuses mainly around the plot of the novella, but they didn’t want to do a straight remake, and executive producers Gene Klein and David Bartis mentioned that – should they be graced with a season 2 – they’ll be free to do a little more exploring in the world.

Check out our interviews with executive producers Buhler, Klein, and Bartis as well as cast members David Ajala, Gretchen Mol, and Angus Sampson!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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