The Mosquito Coast - What We Know So Far

The Mosquito Coast is one of this spring's most hotly anticipated new shows. The action drama series is coming to Apple TV+ at the end of April. It's the second adaptation of a best-selling 1981 novel by author Paul Theroux; the first came out in 1986 and was helmed by acclaimed director Peter Weir from a script by Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader. The film stars Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix. It's good but not a classic; it has a positive but not stellar 76 percent "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was a box office flop. In a 1992 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ford said it was the only film of his that didn't make its money back, but he was still glad he did it.

The Mosquito Coast is an interesting choice for a reboot/new adaptation. On the one hand, it's very smart to take another crack at adapting a well-regarded novel that maybe wasn't executed as well as it could have been the first time around. Streaming TV gives producers more hours to dig into telling a novel's story and the budget to go big. On the other hand, maybe there's an inherent reason The Mosquito Coast didn't catch on the first time. Harrison Ford himself did say, "It may have more properly been a literary rather than a cinematic exercise."

This Mosquito Coast has the potential to really work, though. It comes from Luther creator Neil Cross and stars Justin Theroux, Paul Theroux's nephew. Here's what we know so far about Apple TV+'s The Mosquito Coast.

The Mosquito Coast starts streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, April 30. The first two episodes of the seven-episode season will be available on that day, with new episodes releasing on subsequent Fridays. Note that Apple is describing this as a "series," not a "limited series," so it sounds like there's a possibility for further seasons should the show catch on. We'll have to wait and see if that means the first season won't adapt the entire novel, or if further seasons would continue the story beyond the source material. 

The Mosquito Coast is an Apple TV+ exclusive and will only be available to watch via that streaming service. Apple TV+ has put together an impressive roster of shows since launching in late 2019, including sports comedy Ted Lasso with Golden Globe winner Jason Sudeikis, cult hits Dickinson and Servant, and splashy drama The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell. A subscription costs $4.99 per month.

The cast is led by The Leftovers' Justin Theroux, who plays idealistic inventor Allie Fox. "I have a long history with the novel mainly because I read it as a kid," Justin Theroux said during the show's panel at the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour, per Indiewire. "I obviously knew the character, but I knew the novel version of him. This is Allie seen through a slightly different prism" than the film version. Theroux said he had dinner with Ford while the show was filming in Mexico City, but they didn't talk about Allie Fox at all.

The cast also includes The First's Melissa George as Allie's wife Margot, newcomer Logan Polish as their daughter Dina, Child's Play's Gabriel Bateman as their son Charlie, and Ad Astra's Kimberly Elise as Jones, a government agent pursuing the Foxes.

In addition to writer and executive producer Neil Cross, behind-the-camera talent includes executive producers Louis Theroux, Justin Theroux, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Rupert Wyatt, who directs the first two episodes.

Here's Apple's official description of the show: "Adapted from the best-selling novel, The Mosquito Coast is a gripping adventure and layered character drama following the dangerous journey of a radical idealist and brilliant inventor, Allie Fox (Justin Theroux), who uproots his family for Mexico when they suddenly find themselves on the run from the U.S. government."

The novel follows Allie and his family as they leave their home in Massachusetts in search of a life away from what Allie feels are the malign influences of American life. They go to the Mosquito Coast in Honduras, where they experience chaos and hardship as Allie tries to build a completely self-sufficient life for them in the jungle. The show will be a little bit different, however. At TCA, Justin Theroux described it as a "sort of prequel" to the book, and the trailer makes it seem like there's a lot more government involvement than there is in the novel.