National Geographic Channel’s upcoming period drama series “The Right Stuff” is changing up its distribution and will now become a Disney+ original series.
The show will premiere in the Fall under the Nat Geo brand, but on Mouse House’s SVOD platform. This marks Nat Geo’s first scripted original series for Disney+.
The eight-episode series, based on the novel by Tom Wolfe, examines the ambitious astronauts of Project Mercury and their families who become instant celebrities in a competition that could kill them or make them immortal.
The two men at the center of the story are revered test pilots Major John Glenn (Patrick J. Adams) and Lieutenant Commander Alan Shepard (Jake McDorman). Colin O’Donoghue, Aaron Staton, James Lafferty, Michael Trotter and Micah Stock play the other members of the Mercury Seven. Nora Zehetner, Eloise Mumford and Shannon Lucio co-star.
DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are executive producers, along with showrunner Mark Lafferty. Chris Long directed and executive produced the first episode. The property was previously adapted into the 1983 film of the same name by Philip Kaufman.
