Being the brainchild of the sometime Monty Python’s Flying Circus collaborator and famously dilatory author Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy was never meant to be a franchise – Adams didn’t think that far ahead.
Instead, it segued from humble roots as an unexpectedly successful 1978 BBC radio show into a series of novels, several stage plays, a TV series, and a film. So, when it was announced that Hulu was developing a new version of the television series in 2019, fans welcomed the news.
Fast forward four years, and that series has yet to appear. So what happened? Here’s the lowdown.
Screen adaptations: a mix of success and failure
Adams’ idiosyncratic brand of English whimsy was an instant hit with radio audiences, and the BBC quickly commissioned a TV series, which premiered in 1981. Adams was by now hot property – his novelization of the radio series had topped the London Sunday Times’ bestseller list, and a sequel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, was published in 1980 to positive reviews.
Although it largely stuck to the largely unknown actors who had voiced the principal roles in the radio series – the most prominent of them, Simon Jones (Arthur), would later bag supporting roles in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and Terry Gilliam’s absurdist dystopian comedy Brazil – it also attracted some big names, including Star Wars’ Dave Prowse, and the then star of Doctor Who, Peter Davison.
In spite of the talent on display, some excellent graphics work for the Guide entries (which weren’t in fact computer-generated, but painstakingly drawn by hand), and impressive viewing figures, the TV version of the story is now chiefly remembered as a curio, hampered by slow pacing and uneven production values. The definitive on-screen portrayal of Arthur’s adventures had yet to be filmed.
The 2005 film: hit or miss?
So in 2005, expectations were high when, after over a decade in development hell, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy movie premiered. Starring Martin Freeman (then chiefly known for his work in the original British version of The Office; he would go on to co-star with Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock) as Arthur, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod, Mos Def as Ford, a pre-New Girl Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, and the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, and Helen Mirren, the film had Hollywood amounts of cash lavished on it, and did good, but not great, box office. Critical reception was, however, muted, with several critics bemoaning the updated cultural references and jokes that failed to land.
2019: Hulu looks to a reboot
In 2019, Hulu announced that a reboot was in development. Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse was slated to helm the series, which was presented as being a modern updating of the story.
But the project was rapidly derailed – as were so many other productions – by the pandemic. Cameras were scheduled to roll in mid-2020, but was postponed due to the lockdowns. In May 2021, one media outlet reported that production had at last begun in Toronto; but now, almost three years later, it is plain that didn’t occur. So what happened?
The answer is unclear. Hulu has issued no updates, and mention of the project is absent from the streamer’s website (though the 2005 film remains available for viewing). If the project is indeed still in development, Cuse would appear to no longer be associated with it, having spent much of the last three years actively involved with Locke & Key and last year’s Apple’s medical drama Five Days at Memorial. The other big name associated with the show, Wonder Woman writer Jason Fuchs, has been less active, but with the beginning of production for HBO Max of the Stephen King horror series Welcome to Derry last year, a project he is overseeing alongside Andy and Barbara Muschietti, it seems that he too is no longer connected with the Hitch-Hiker’s reboot.
Perhaps we should not be surprised. Over the years, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’s distinctive brand of science fiction comedy has proven very difficult to get right. Part of the problem is the crazy plot, which is full of non sequiturs and abrupt changes of direction. (Adams later admitted he made the plot up as he went along, with no idea how difficult situations would resolve.)
Another is the story’s humor, which, despite valiant attempts to update it, remains suffused with 1970s sensibilities and rhythms, Trillian’s part in particular being underwritten in all versions of the story. Efforts to turn the comically awkward relationship between Arthur and Trillian into a budding romance in the 2005 film were met with cries of derision from fans.
Anyone looking to produce a new adaptation will have all these issues to deal with, along with the immensely complicated business of filming a story literally takes the entire Universe – in fact, the end of the universe – as source material. It remains to be seen whether Hulu – or any of the other big streaming services – will get behind such a project, and send Arthur and Ford hitch-hiking into the stars once more.