Baywatch Is Coming Back to UK Screens in 2027—and It's Serious About It

TL;DR: Sky and Now are streaming the Baywatch reboot in 2027, with Stephen Amell leading an ensemble cast in a 12-episode first season. The original show hit one billion weekly viewers globally—this isn't a parody revival, it's a full dramatic reimagining. Premiere date TBC; check Movie OTT for UK/Ireland availability.

Sky just locked down exclusive UK and Ireland rights to the Baywatch reboot, and this matters more than it sounds at first.

The deal landed quietly in May 2026 while Cannes was buzzing with bigger announcements, but it signals something specific about how major broadcasters are thinking about legacy IP right now. This isn't a nostalgia filler slot. This is a 12-episode commitment from Fox Entertainment and Fremantle, positioned as a genuine reimagining—not a joke-along remake like the 2017 Dwayne Johnson film.

The show's set to premiere on Sky and its streaming platform Now sometime in 2027. That's the framework. But the real story is whether the creative team has actually updated what made Baywatch work in the first place, or just dressed up the same beats in better production design.

Why This Property Still Has That Much Leverage

Here's the thing that makes Baywatch different from every other 1990s revival in development: the original series hit one billion viewers per week across more than 200 countries. One billion. Weekly. That's not hyperbole—that's the baseline of global recognition that almost no other television property can claim, even now.

The show ran for 11 seasons starting in 1989. It made David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson international stars. The slow-motion running, the red swimsuits, the Southern California shoreline—all of it became visual shorthand for an entire era of American television that was simultaneously earnest and ridiculous.

The 2017 theatrical film with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron leaned hard into the absurdity angle. It earned around $177.8 million globally against a $69 million budget—profitable, sure, but it didn't launch a franchise. That tells you something important: audiences weren't interested in Baywatch as parody. They wanted the thing itself, or nothing. Most coverage of this reboot frames it as a straightforward legacy revival, but the more interesting question is whether Fox learned the actual lesson of that 2017 misfire: the property's value was never camp, it was sincerity, and the audience punished them for confusing the two.

This reboot appears to be betting that audiences in 2027 will connect with the drama-first approach rather than the wink-wink treatment.

Who's Attached and What They're Actually Doing

Stephen Amell anchors the cast as Hobie Buchannon. You probably know him from Arrow—eight seasons on The CW, carrying an action series week-to-week. That's the credential that matters here. Baywatch needs someone who can ground the tone while still selling the sun-drenched charm. Amell's proven he can anchor long-form television, but whether he can thread the specific needle Baywatch requires (the physical credibility of Arrow with the appeal of something lighter) is the casting bet I'm most curious about.

The ensemble fills out like this:

Jessica Belkin (Dutton Ranch) as Charlie Vale
Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars) as Trina
Hassie Harrison (Yellowstone) as Nat
Noah Beck (Sidelined) as Luke
Brooks Nader as Selene
Livvy Dunne as Grace

Original series veterans David Chokachi and Erika Eleniak return as Cody Madison and Shauni McClain. Eleniak's appearing as a guest rather than series regular, which keeps the door open for the show to exist on its own terms while tipping the hat to legacy.

The Livvy Dunne casting is the wildcard, honestly. She arrives with a massive social media following but sparse acting credits. Her performance could be the breakout story of the season—or the thing critics fixate on. Either way, it's a parallel narrative that runs alongside the show itself.

What Lucy Criddle—Sky's Director of Acquisitions—Actually Said About This

Here's the clearest signal that Sky is treating this as premium content, not just a nostalgia placeholder:

"Baywatch is one of the most iconic television franchises of all time, and this bold new reimagining will deliver the sun, sea and high-stakes drama audiences know and love, while introducing a dynamic new cast for a new generation of fans."

That framing—"bold new reimagining," "new generation"—is doing real work. Sky isn't positioning this as a retro curio you watch on a Sunday afternoon when nothing else is on. They're betting it plays to both returning fans who remember the original and viewers who've never seen a single episode.

Jamie Lynn, Fremantle's EVP for co-production and distribution in EMEA, added that the show "has an instantly familiar feel while still being made for today's audiences." Hard to argue with that assessment of the IP itself.

The Practical Breakdown: Where, When, What You're Getting

Platforms: Sky and Now (UK and Ireland exclusive)
Episode count: 12 episodes, first season
Launch window: 2027 (specific premiere date not yet announced)
Producers: Fox Entertainment and Fremantle
Distributed by: Fremantle across EMEA territories

That 12-episode order is worth underlining. It's not a limited-series hedge. Full commitment. It signals Fox and Fremantle believe this can sustain itself across multiple years if the first run performs. The infrastructure for a multi-season arc is already baked in.

The production pedigree matters too. Fremantle has built everything from Neighbours to The Traitors. Fox Entertainment isn't throwing this at a second-tier creative team. They're treating it like tentpole drama (or tentpole drama-adjacent content, which is where Baywatch lives).

Why This Moment, Why Now—and What It Tells Us About Streaming Strategy

Audiences in 2026 and 2027 are increasingly willing to engage with reboots of legacy properties when the creative execution earns it rather than coasting on name recognition alone. The variable nobody mentions when these deals land is whether the writers' room has genuinely updated the show's dramatic DNA or simply dressed it up in more expensive production design.

The timing also reflects something broader about Sky's strategy. Linear broadcasters in the UK are increasingly aggressive about securing exclusive first-run American content as a hedge against subscriber churn. Sky reported losing approximately 200,000 subscribers across its European markets in Q4 2025 alone, per Comcast's earnings call, which makes a globally recognizable property like Baywatch less of a programming luxury and more of a retention play with built-in marketing shorthand. Compare this to how Yellowstone—which, notably, features Hassie Harrison from this Baywatch cast—expanded its footprint internationally through a mix of network and streaming deals, building a massive audience over multiple seasons before becoming a genuine cross-platform phenomenon. Baywatch starts with something Yellowstone didn't: pre-existing global name recognition at a scale that almost defies comparison.

That's both an advantage and a trap. The show has to earn its audience all over again, not just trade on the name.

For tracking where this becomes available as the 2027 window approaches, Movie OTT's where-to-watch tracker will flag UK and Ireland availability across Sky and Now once official premiere dates are confirmed—and you'll want that when the marketing campaign kicks into gear.

Indian Audiences: Where to Watch When It Lands

Indian streaming rights for the reboot haven't been confirmed yet, but it's worth knowing what to expect.

Fremantle handles EMEA distribution, but the Indian subcontinent typically falls under separate licensing agreements. Given Fox Entertainment's co-production role, the most likely Indian homes would be Disney+ Hotstar (which carries significant Fox-originated content in India) or JioCinema, which has been aggressively expanding its Hollywood catalogue.

The original Baywatch has a recognizable footprint in India—it aired widely on cable through the 1990s and early 2000s, and the 2017 film had a theatrical release. That residual familiarity could make the reboot a solid performer on whichever platform lands it.

Hindi and regional language dubs are likely given the Fox-Fremantle partnership's international ambitions. Tamil or Telugu dubs will depend on platform appetite, but they're possible.

Keep Movie OTT bookmarked. When Indian licensing details are confirmed, the platform will update availability across Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, SonyLIV, and Zee5.

What's Next: The Trailer, the Other Territories, the US Home

The immediate next beat is a trailer. With a 2027 launch window and the deal just announced in May 2026, a full trailer's probably 12–18 months away. But a teaser or first-look could surface as early as late 2026 if Fox wants to build momentum ahead of upfront presentations.

Beyond that, watch for:

Additional international broadcaster announcements. Fremantle's EMEA distribution push suggests more territory deals are coming. European public broadcasters often move slower than Sky, so expect staggered announcements through late 2026 and into 2027.
The US broadcast and streaming home. Fox Entertainment is a co-producer, so a Fox network premiere is the logical assumption. But streaming rights on Hulu or Peacock haven't been confirmed. That's the missing piece.
How the cast chemistry plays. Amell anchors this, but the ensemble dynamics—especially between him and the newer cast members—will determine whether this feels like a cohesive show or a collection of characters running on the beach.

I keep thinking about the casting of Livvy Dunne, honestly. Social media followers don't translate to dramatic presence. If she nails the role, it's a career-defining moment. If she doesn't, critics will use her as a shorthand for the show's broader problems. That's not fair, but it's how these things work.

Should You Plan to Watch?

Yes. If you have any nostalgic attachment to the original, absolutely yes. If you're a fan of Stephen Amell's work on Arrow, yes. And if you just want to see whether Fox and Fremantle can actually pull off a legacy revival that respects the source material while making something new—also yes.

The 12-episode order, the production pedigree, and Sky's commitment to it as a premium acquisition all suggest this won't be a throwaway nostalgia play. The 2027 window gives the creative team breathing room to get it right. That's the bet.

When the premiere date and trailer drop, you'll want to know where to stream it. Bookmark Movie OTT—they'll have the where-to-watch breakdown for every region as soon as it's official.

Watch the official trailer: