The Man Who Fell to Earth Series Ordered at CBS All Access

You've heard of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World," but what about David Bowie's The Man Who Fell to Earth?

CBS All Access content chief Julie McNamara announced during the streamer's Summer 2019 press tour appearance that it has ordered an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel and David Bowie-starring film The Man Who Fell to Earth. Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet will write and executive produce the series and also serve as its showrunners alongside John Hlavin. Hlavin will direct. Rola Bauer, Tim Halkin, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Aaron Baiers, and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers.

“We are thrilled to add another iconic genre favorite to our lineup as we expand original programming on CBS All Access,” said Julie McNamara, Executive Vice President, Original Content, CBS All Access. “We know this series will capture the soul and spirit of the source material and further push narrative boundaries in the capable hands of Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet and the entire producing team.”

read more - The Man Who Fell to Earth: The Myopic Wonder of David Bowie's Earth Oddity

Tevis's novel was first published in 1963 and told the story of an alien who arrives on Earth and looks to find a way to bring the rest of his people over from their drought-ravaged planet as refugees. A film adaptation of the same name followed in 1976. David Bowie starred in the film as the central alien figure, which....yeah, obviously. Since 1976, The Man Who Fell to Earth "franchise" as it were has laid entirely dormant until now. CBS Television Studios will co-produce the project along with TANDEM Productions, a STUDIOCANAL Company as STUDIOCANAL still owns the rights to both Tevis's book and the film adaptation.

“Walter Tevis’ visionary novel gave us a tech god Willy Wonka from another planet, brought to life by David Bowie’s legendary performance, that foretold Steve Jobs’ and Elon Musk’s impacts on our world,” executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet said in a statement. “The series will imagine the next step in our evolution, seen through the eyes of an alien who must learn what it means to become human, even as he fights for the survival of his species.”

With The Man Who Fell to Earth, CBS All Access is slowly but surely beefing up its sci-fi offerings. Star Trek is well represented on CBS All Access with Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Picard set to debut new seasons soon. An adaptation of Stephen King's epic The Stand has been announced as well. 

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Alec Bojalad is TV Editor at Den of Geek and TCA member. Read more of his stuff here. Follow him at his creatively-named Twitter handle @alecbojalad

Source: www.denofgeek.com