Beverly Hills, Calif. — CBS All Access will do a series for The Man Who Fell to Earth, based on a Walter Tevis novel and David Bowie film. The series will follow an alien who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.
Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet will write and executive produce and be co-showrunners alongside executive producer John Hlavin. Kurtzman will also direct. Rola Bauer, Tim Halkin, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Heather Kadin will also exec produce.
The series will be co-produced by CBS Television Studios and Tandem Productions, in association with Secret Hideout and Timberman/Beverly. StudioCanal owns the rights for both Tevis’ book and the Nicolas Roeg film.
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“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 VP, 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.”
The Roeg/Bowie film came out in 1976.
“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,” said Kurtzman and Lumet. “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.”
