CBS All Access orders The Man Who Fell to Earth TV adaptation

Entertainment Weekly

Walter Tevis’ 1962 sci-fi novel that was turned into a 1976 film starring David Bowie will become a 10-episode CBS All Access series written by Star Trek boss Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, who will serve as co-showrunners. “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 impact on our world,” says Kurtzman and Lumet of the drama about a "humanoid alien who arrives on Earth searching for a way to get water to his drought-struck planet and uses his advanced technology to create many inventions and become a tech mogul." Kurtzman and Lumet add: “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.” Lumet, the daughter of acclaimed director Sidney Lumet, says the idea for a Man Who Fell to Earth was inspired by Jobs' iPhone announcement in 2007. “We were thinking about the day 12 years ago when Steve Jobs took the stage and introduced the iPhone and it fundamentally changed how we live and communicate and Alex says, ‘What if he’s an alien?’” Lumet recalls. “Here we are where we’ve never been more connected but never been further apart.” Kurtzman tells EW the story is designed as a minimum three-season story, with season 1 focusing on the alien’s ascension to the head of a tech company.