Showtime has released the first full-length trailer for their reimagining of The Man Who Fell to Earth. Now told as a TV series rather than a movie, The Man Who Fell to Earth stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Naomie Harris, Kate Mulgrew, and Bill Nighy, among others. It centers on a humanoid alien who crash lands on Earth while trying to find a water source for his planet, which is suffering from a serious drought. Humanity’s foibles soon take center stage, though, as the alien is harassed, abused, and detained by opportunistic humans. The Paramount+ version will be co-written and executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. The series is based on the same story that inspired the 1976 film starring pop superstar David Bowie.
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It seems likely that the series will be a bit closer to the original source material than the Bowie version was, although it doesn’t look like the series will have the same over-the-top visual style of the original film, which has helped it endure as a cult classic. Widely regarded as one of the best science-fiction films ever made, The Man Who Fell to Earth has a long pop culture footprint, including the 2009 Watchmen movie, in which filmmaker Zack Snyder and his team used The Man Who Fell to Earth as a visual touchstone when creating sets for Doctor Manhattan’s apartment as well as Ozymandias’s arctic lair from the end of the film.
You can see the trailer below.
Kurtzman and Lumet will serve as showrunners, with Kurtzman set to serve as the directorial voice of the series. John Hlavin will serve as executive producer, along with Rola Bauer, Tim Halkin, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Heather Kadin. Aaron Baiers will co-executive produce.
You can see the official synopsis for the series below.
Based on the Walter Tevis novel of the same name and the iconic film that starred David Bowie, The Man Who Fell to Earth will follow a new alien character (Ejiofor) who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.
The series premieres on April 24th on Showtime.
