It’s been a long road bringing Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars) to the small screen. First it was James Cameron who held the rights, with the intention of creating a five-hour miniseries; later, Gale Ann Hurd had a similar idea, intended for Syfy. The next network to set its sights on the trilogy was AMC, back in 2008 and fresh off the start of Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
Finally, Spike TV took over the rights—and according to Deadline, they’ve signed on Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski to adapt Red Mars.
Red Mars tracks the eary colonization and terraforming of Mars, as told through the perspectives of the First Hundred who are chosen to leave behind an Earth suffering from overpopulation, ecological disasters, and the emergence of transnational corporations threatening to overthrow the world’s governments. On Mars, the First Hundred debate the ethics of terraforming, namely how much power humans should have over an entirely new planet.
“The heart of this series tackles the question of what it means to be human—and can we sustain our humanity under incredible duress,” said Sharon Levy, Spike TV’s Executive VP of Original Series. Robinson will serve as consultant on the series, which is being produced by Game of Thrones co-executive producer Vince Gerardis.
It will be interesting to see how Straczynski—who has often impacted SFF for the better—takes on Robinson’s Hugo and Nebula-winning trilogy.
