Red Mars the TV series.
Spike TV is bringing Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy to television with Skydance Television serving as the studio on the original one-hour scripted series, titled Red Mars.
The books, Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars, chronicles mankind’s colonization and transformation of the red planet.
Red Mars will be Executive Produced and written by J. Michael Straczynski whose works include Babylon Five. The straight-to-series project will be Executive Produced by Vince Gerardis who brought the project to Spike and has shepherded development, along with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross.
“The heart and soul of Red Mars is about humanity,” Sharon Levy at Spike told SFcrowsnest. “This group of strangers must find a way to live together and survive under the most daunting conditions mankind has ever faced to become the first living generation of Martians. They will be each other’s greatest source of strength – and if they can’t coexist- the greatest reason for failure.”
The Mars Trilogy won several awards including the Nebula and Hugo Awards.
Robinson, a New York Times best-selling author, will consult on the series.
“I look forward to being a part of bringing my long time client’s literary achievement to the screen,” said Vince Gerardis. “Its themes are important to the future we are creating.”
Spike has ordered 10 one-hour episodes of Red Mars. Spike’s first scripted original dramatic series in nine years will go into production next summer and will debut on Spike in January 2017.
Red Mars follows the first settlers charged with terraforming the red planet, all of whom have competed to be a part of the mission. The series delves into the lives of these relative strangers, cut off from everything they’ve ever known and living in the harshest environment imaginable. Over time, viewers will witness the evolution of humans and technology as they learn to adapt in their inhospitable new home.
