The Man Who Fell to Earth (TV series)
The Man Who Fell to Earth is an American science fiction television series created by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis and previously made into a film in 1976 starring David Bowie. The series stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as an alien who arrives on planet Earth and Bill Nighy reprising the role originally played by Bowie in the 1976 film. It debuted on Showtime on April 24, 2022. A portion of the series showed at SXSW on March 12, 2022. Premise. The  future of the planet is in the hands of an alien who arrives on Earth at a pivotal moment in history. Episodes. Each episode is named after a David Bowie song. Production. A television adaptation of Walter Tevis's novel "The Man Who Fell to Earth", which was previously made into a film in 1976 starring David Bowie, moved from Hulu to CBS All Access in August 2019. It had been in development at Hulu for over a year, and was moved as a result of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, as disagreements over co-production could  not be resolved. It was created by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman. In February 2021, Chiwetel Ejiofor was cast to star in the series, playing the role of the alien/Faraday. The next month, the series would be moved to Showtime, with Naomie Harris, Jimmi Simpson and Clarke Peters added to the cast. Rob Delaney, Sonya Cassidy, Joana Ribeiro, and Annelle Olayele would join in April. In August, Kate Mulgrew joined in a recurring role. In January 2022, Bill Nighy was cast to play Thomas Jerome Newton, the role David Bowie played in the film. Filming began on May 3 , 2021, in London. Release. The series was initially planned for a 2021 release on Paramount+. It is now set to debut in 2022 on Showtime and on Paramount+ Internationally. Reception. Critical response. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 82% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 22 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, ""The Man Who Fell to Earth" may not be out of this world, but a commanding Chiwetel Ejiofor gives this space oddity an earthy gravitas." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based  on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".