To Infinity And Beyond
As the UK contingent of Goblins recovers from Olympic standard alcohol consumption during last night’s European Champions League final, news penetrates the fog of a hangover.
Tom Woolfe’s bestseller The Right Stuff about pioneering US astronauts was adapted for the screen in the 1980s. It is like a roll-call of movie stars just before they hit the big-time.
Now National Geographic is going to adapt it again as a scripted series. The lead role of Major John Glenn, played by Ed Harris in the original, will go to former Suits co-lead Patrick J. Adams. This is his first regular TV series role since leaving Suits.
Playing Catch-Up
Appian Way and Warner Horizon Scripted Television are producing this version of the story behind Project Mercury, a time when the USA was lagging behind Soviet Russia in the space race. Fears of Soviet domination of the heavens demanded a response.
Glenn is a top test pilot and committed family man with unwavering, old fashioned principles. He and Alan Shepard are competing against each other to be the first American in space.
They will film near NASA at Cocoa Beach in Florida for a 2020 TV premiere. Subsequent seasons will cover the Apollo Space Program.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are executive producers. Mark Lafferty is the showrunner.
