Suits star Patrick J. Adams has committed to star in National Geographic’s The Right Stuff series. The new series, which is based on the bestselling book by Tom Wolfe, will begin production sometime this fall in Cocoa Beach, FL.
Adams will star as Major John Glenn. Mark Lafferty (Castle Rock, Halt and Catch Fire) is guiding the series as showrunner. Lafferty’s also executive producing with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, and Will Staples. David Nutter (Game of Thrones, Band of Brothers) has come on board to direct and executive produce the first episode.
The Right Stuff is an Appian Way, Warner Horizon Scripted Television, and National Geographic production. National Geographic’s aiming for a 2020 premiere.
In addition to announcing Patrick J. Adams as Glenn, National Geographic released details on the series:
“Glenn is a revered test pilot and committed family man with unwavering principles. He is the only astronaut to have experienced fame before Project Mercury, and he immediately locks horns with Alan Shepard in an unrelenting fight to be the first man in space.
The first season of The Right Stuff, which uses Wolfe’s book as its starting point, starts at the height of the Cold War. To combat a national sentiment of fear and decline, the U.S. government conceives of NASA’s Project Mercury, igniting a space race with the Soviets and making instant celebrities of a handful of the military’s adrenaline-fueled test pilots. These individuals, who come to be known as the Mercury Seven, are forged into heroes long before they have achieved a single heroic act. At the heart of a historic drama populated by deeply human characters, two archrivals – Glenn and Shepard – jockey to be the first man in space.
Subsequent seasons of The Right Stuff will carry through to the epochal Apollo Space Program, where humankind saw one of its greatest achievements – man setting foot on the moon – and missions beyond.”
