Daisy Ridley’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Paramount+ orders eight episodes
Ridley will star in and executive produce a new take on Irwin Allen’s undersea story, with Akiva Goldsman writing and Matt Shakman directing.
Daisy Ridley is set to star in and executive produce an eight-episode Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea series ordered by Paramount+, Variety reported on October 21. The new take brings Irwin Allen’s submarine story back to television, with Ridley playing an ocean scientist drawn into a classified mission after her twin sister dies on an Arctic expedition.
The submarine at the center of the story is the USS Seaview, found trapped in Arctic ice. According to the premise reported by Variety and Deadline, it bears symbols from a history that should not exist and powers up only when Ridley’s character, Lee Crane, steps aboard.
What happens in the new Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea?
Lee is pulled into a government program following the expedition that killed her sister, then put in command of Seaview’s crew. The missions take them beneath the ocean to contain mysterious forces entering their world. The larger mystery involves hidden ocean history and the mythical city of Atlantis, according to the story description carried by both outlets.
Lee must also work with government power brokers in an uneasy alliance, according to the series description. That tension sits alongside the mystery of the submarine’s origins as she leads its crew on undersea missions.
Who is making the Daisy Ridley series?
Akiva Goldsman is set to write and executive produce, while Matt Shakman is attached to direct and executive produce. Jon Jashni is also an executive producer, and Derek Thielges is a co-producer. Legendary Television is producing with the Irwin Allen estate, tying the new project to the creator of the earlier film and TV versions.
Deadline reported that a writers’ room is underway, citing sources close to production. Variety said the project had been in development for months before recent changes at Skydance, Paramount+’s parent company. Neither report gives a premiere date.
How does it connect to the original Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea?
Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea began as a 1961 film and became a television series that ran from 1964 to 1968. Variety identifies Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine and Peter Lorre among the film’s cast, and Richard Basehart and David Hedison as stars of the later series. The Paramount+ project returns to that title and its submarine setting with Ridley’s Lee Crane at the center of a new story.
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Sources and context
- Daisy Ridley to Star in New Take on ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’ at Paramount+Variety
- Daisy Ridley To Lead 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' TV SeriesDeadline
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