Last June 20th was the anniversary of the first moon landing. Would you believe that it happened back in 1969? Were you even alive back then? Well, you get your chance to live through it vicariously or re-live it when National Geographic’s original drama series The Right Stuff comes out.
In the meantime, we have the first look-trailer available below.
Wow! Can you believe it when retired Navy test pilot Dave Kennedy said, “What we did today is to try to give our actors exposure to the real world of experimental flight test. It’s important when a production understands how important it is to get this kind of exposure”?
Guess Gendry really is going to space!
For those, looking for a bit more context, stick around and scroll down.
Now if you think this story or the title is familiar, don’t worry you’re not going crazy.
Well, maybe you are, I’m not a medical doctor.
Either way, it was confirmed a long time ago that the first season will use Tom Wolfe’s book of the same name as its starting point, meaning the show will begin at the height of the Cold War.
Published in 1979, The Right Stuff follows the United States’ efforts in the early days of the space race, focusing exclusively on the first operational manned space-flight program. Codenamed Project Mercury, the program involved a group known as the “Mercury Seven,” whose members included Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.
See, early space tests actually rarely required humans to be on board, but in order to ‘give the space mission a human face’, it was decided that humans would be on board anyway. This made celebrities out of those who became known as the Mercury Seven.
The book focuses on the astronauts’ personal lives and individual stories as opposed to the more technical aspects of the space race, pondering the question of “Why?”—hence the title The Right Stuff.
The book was adapted into the 1983 film. Directed by Philip Kaufman, the film starred acting giants Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, and Sam Shepard as well as many others. Despite its status as a box office failure, the film received widespread critical acclaim and went on to earn eight Oscar nominations, four of which it won. Those were Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound.
In 2013, the film received the honor of being selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Image Via Rodgerebert.com
However, the film adaptation has been criticized for numerous historical inaccuracies, including having Jack Ridley show up in 1963 even though in real life he died in 1957. More humorously, however, the film ends with the narrator stating: “on this glorious day in May 1963 [Gordo Cooper] was the last American to go into space alone,” when, in fact, Joe Walker flew into twice after Cooper in July and August of that same year.
But what film can be completely accurate? Even at 3 hours and 13 minutes, the film does the best it can.
But what if it was a TV show?
This was the question Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way…
… and Warner Horizon Scripted Television asked, and thus they are now the producers behind this new TV show.
Now we find ourselves here, getting ready to watch the first-look trailer again.
For an extensive look at the cast list and the producers, click here to learn more! Since I wrote the article, however, I will unashamedly steal the closing joke:
Hopeful this show grabs our hearts and takes them to…
IMAGE VIA WALMART
Production will begin this fall in Cocoa Beach, Florida and is set for a 2020 premiere on National Geographic.
Featured Image Via Laughing Place