Sheridan Smith and Céline Buckens have been cast in The Castaways, a drama series adaptation of Lucy Clarke’s novel. They will play sisters Lori and Erin respectively in the thriller, which will be a British Paramount+ original. It is the second adaptation of a Clarke work for the service, the first being No Escape, which premiered on May 18.
Following a huge fight, Lori boards a plane to Fiji that Erin does not. The flight disappears. Even months later no debris has been located. Erin hears that Lori's credit card has been used on a remote Fijian island. When she later recognizes the pilot on CCTV, that's her final straw to head there and investigate.
The show follows both sisters' perspectives, Erin's investigation in a more present day, and Lori's fight for survival post-crash on a remote island in the recent past. The truth about the plane and its passengers slowly comes out, with the why of it all turning sinister enough that someone is willing to kill to keep the secret.
This was Paramount+'s first series order since the start of the Writers Guild of America strike. British writers have been given WGGB guidance not to accept work on U.S. studio shows, but foreign shows of course are out of the Writers Guild of America's jurisdiction, so they can keep chugging along. UK producer Clapperboard Studios and Blackbox Multimedia are attached to the series, with filming set to begin on location in Greece and Fiji sometime this month. Ben Harris, who has executive produced Devils, which aired stateside on The CW, and was showrunner on Ransom, which ran on CBS. is an executive producer and lead writer. He shares responsibilities with Polly Buckle and Jesse O’Mahoney. Andy and Ryan Tohill are directors, with Myf Hopkins as the producer.
Clarke said The Castaways “promises to be an incredible adaptation" and Smith and Buckens are "perfectly cast as Lori and Erin.” While Smith might not have credits too familiar to American audiences, Buckens did appear in Steven Spielberg's War Horse and starred in the Paramount+ miniseries The Ex-Wife last year. These two, as well as A Gentleman in Moscow and Sexy Beast are just a few of the 150 international originals Paramount+ plans to launch by 2025.
Source: Deadline