If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again. Last year’s low-budget horror film remake of the 1970s-80s TV series Fantasy Island didn’t make many waves, partially due to COVID-19 shutting down theaters, but FOX isn’t going to let this concept remain dormant for too long. The network placed a straight-to-series order for a reboot which it plans to air this summer. This new version was developed by writer-producers Liz Craft and Sarah Fain.
Kiara Barnes has been cast in a series regular role, while John Gabriel Rodriguez has been cast as recurring.
Nowadays, the name “Fantasy Island” sounds like another trashy reality show, but the original was an anthology series in which wealthy visitors journeyed to the titular island where they would live out their fantasies. However, these tended to take on a “Gift of the Magi” twist and they would realize they had it better in their regular lives.
The original TV series launched in 1977 with a pair of TV movies before becoming an ongoing program which ran until 1984. Ricardo Montalbán starred as the resort’s enigmatic host Mister Roarke, while French little person Hervé Villechaize portrayed his assistant Tattoo. Both were known for wearing matching white suits and in the opening credits, Villechaize would shout “Zee plane! Zee plane!” which became a famous catchphrase.
Perhaps the biggest draw for the series was the guest stars. Each episode featured a new batch of visitors played by familiar celebrity faces of the era.
The FOX reboot will feature a new host, Elena Roarke, a descendant of the original Mr. Roarke.
Barnes and Rodriguez will play employees of the island. Barnes plays “the warm and wise Ruby Okoro, a young woman with an old soul. She arrives on Fantasy Island with a terminal illness, but Roarke and the island give her a new lease on life.”
Rodriguez’s character is “the rugged, handsome and charismatic Javier, Fantasy Island’s head of transport — a pilot, mechanic and jack of all trades. While the island provides Javier refuge, as with everything else it offers, it may come at the price of a reckoning.”
As was the case with last year’s movie version, there is no Tattoo-figure.
While the film wasn’t a smash it made several times its $7 million budget, earning $48.5M. Michael Peña portrayed Mr. Roarke and the cast also included Lucy Hale and Michael Rooker.
Barnes has played Zoe Buckingham on CBS’s soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful since 2018, and she recently starred in the Lifetime movie The Wrong Wedding. She also stars on the UMC show Stuck With You, which is going into its second season.
Rodriguez has never starred on a series, but has made appearances on The Vampire Diaries, Drop Dead Diva, If Loving You Is Wrong, NCIS, Young and Hungry, Rosewood, The Fosters and more. He also appeared in the film Allegiant.
Elena Roarke has not been cast yet, but check back for updates!
Source: Deadline
