Nat Geo travels to Red Planet

National Geographic Channel in the US has greenlit an event series from Hollywood producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer that tells the epic story of the quest to colonise Mars.

Red Planet (working title) is produced by the Imagine Entertainment duo and fellow US production outfit RadicalMedia.

The programme includes interviews from scientists and innovators who are preparing the way for the first manned mission to Mars in 2032. Red Planet is slated to premiere on the National Geographic Channel in 171 countries and 44 languages in 2016.

Meanwhile, Nat Geo has commissioned Parched from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.

The show, which will air globally, looks at the global water crisis and will be created as a feature length documentary and miniseries.

The US broadcaster has also ordered a pilot from Borgia creator Tom Fontana and Rainman director Barry Levinson.

Last Men Out, based on Bob Drury and Tom Clavin’s book of the same name, follows the heroic actions of a small band of Marines in the final days of the Vietnam War. Fontana will write and exec produce the series pilot through The Levinson/Fontana Company, the prodco he co-founded with Levinson.