“Manifest,” the drama series about a plane that mysteriously disappeared and then returned five and a half years later — with none of its passengers aging — is about to get a sequel. Netflix announced Friday that it has given a greenlight to “Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery,” a new sci-fi spinoff that comes from the team behind the original series.
Helming “Arrivals” will be original “Manifest” creator and showrunner Jeff Rake, who will be joined by original series co-executive producers Margaret Easley and Laura Putney, who will serve now as co-creators and co-showrunners as well. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.
Here’s the new logline: “When a mysterious plane crash-lands in Denver, the passengers emerge with no memory of who they are, where they came from, or why they’re here. A young social worker and a novice Homeland Security agent team up with the new arrivals in an attempt to stop a humanity-ending catastrophe, discovering along the way that they are all part of the very puzzle they’re trying to solve.”
Netflix, of course, chose Aug. 28 at 8:28 a.m. to announce the show for a very specific reason: “Manifest” was all about Flight 828 (8/28, get it?), and those numbers took on significant meaning during the series run.
“We are thrilled to expand the ‘Manifest’ universe with ‘Arrivals,’ led by the original creative team of Jeff Rake, Margaret Easley and Laura Putney,” Jinny Howe, Netflix head of scripted series, US & Canada, said in a statement. Their return ensures the creative continuity essential to this franchise, allowing us to honor what made the original a phenomenon while introducing a fresh perspective for fans worldwide.”
“Manifest” originally launched on NBC in September 2018, starred Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Dallas, Athena Karkanis, J.R. Ramirez, Luna Blaise, Jack Messina, Parveen Kaur, Matt Long and Holly Taylor. NBC canceled the show after three seasons in 2021, but then Netflix picked it up for a fourth and final season.
On Netflix, Season 4 was released in two drops: 10 episodes on Nov. 4, 2022, followed by the final 10 on June 2, 2023. According to Netflix, all four seasons of “Manifest” have garnered more than 130 million views since the first half of 2023. It noted that Season 4 “spent 9 weeks in the Global Top 10 English TV list and hit #1 in over 90 countries tracked.”
Jeff Rake, Margaret Easley, Laura Putney
“When the idea for ‘Manifest’ first crash-landed in my head, I never imagined where it would lead,” Rake said in a statement. “What started as a wild concept became something much bigger — a story that connected with millions of people around the globe. And thanks to Netflix, we were able to finish the journey and give those fans the ending they deserved.
“But the world of ‘Manifest’ has more stories to tell,” he added. “To now bring fans a brand-new mystery from that world is quite simply beyond my wildest dreams. ‘Arrivals’ co-creators and co-showrunners Laura Putney and Margaret Easley have been my trusted colleagues for over a decade. Their contribution to the ‘Manifest’ mothership cannot be overstated. It was a no-brainer to make them my partners on this spinoff. Together we’ve set out to create something bold, surprising, deeply human, and full of the kind of big ideas that spark conversations long after the credits roll. We can’t wait for a whole new audience — and longtime ‘Manifest’ fans — to discover ‘Arrivals.’”
Besides Rake, Easley and Putney, other executive producers include Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” “Back to the Future”) and Jack Rapke (“Cast Away,” “Flight”) of Compari Entertainment; Len Goldstein (“Hart of Dixie”) of Tall Baby Productions (which has an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV) and Jacqueline Levine (“Project Blue Book”).
Rake is repped by WME, while Easley and Putney are repped by WME, Kaplan Perrone Entertainment and LGNLaw.
Here’s a teaser for the announcement:
