Howard, Grazer head to Red Planet with Nat Geo

Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and and Michael Rosenberg have partnered with National Geographic Channel on a “groundbreaking global miniseries event”.

The Imagine Entertainment trio will executive produce Red Planet (WT) along with Jusin Wilkes and Dave O’Connor from RadicalMedia. The show will launch on Nat Geo in 171 territories and in 44 languages next year.

Red Planet is billed as a “a unique hybrid of scripted and unscripted elements” set in 2032 and the present day.

It will follow an “epic” quest to colonise Mars in 17 years’ time, meshing scritped drama and “feature-film quality” visual effects with documentary verité and interviews from present day scientists and space exploration innovators.

“With Imagine and RadicalMedia, we plan to tell a deeply human story of the first manned mission to Mars, that is cinematic in both scope and storytelling,” said Courteney Monroe, CEO, National Geographic Channels.

“We hope to spark the curiosity of viewers by not only transporting them to another planet, but by embedding them with today’s leaders who are revolutionising space technology.”

Hollywod director Howard added: “These intrepid explorers – following in the footsteps of pioneers before them – will spark our imaginations as we weave together the stories of both the past and the present Mars visionaries, along with the historical perspective on Mars.”

NCG’s Robert Palumbo will executive produce alongside the Imagine and RadicalMedia principals.

The show follows on from Cosmos, which was a big hit on NGC networks around the world.