National Geographic taps Academy Award nominee Will Smith as host of One Strange Rock

National Geographic announces Academy Award®-nominated actor Will Smith (Ali, Pursuit of Happyness, Men in Black I, II, III) as host of its new 10-episode global event series, One Strange Rock (#OSR), from Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (mother!, Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream) and award-winning producer Jane Root (America The Story of Us, The 80s: The Decade That Made Us). Smith made the official announcement on his Facebook page with a short teaser video. With Smith guiding viewers on an epic journey across the globe and into outer space, One Strange Rock promises to be a thrilling, mind-bending trip within and beyond planet Earth, affirming that there really is no place like home. The Nutopia and Protozoa Pictures series is slated to premiere globally on National Geographic in March 2018 in 172 countries and 43 languages.

Link to download video: https://files.natgeonetworks.com/_7WNaNhfuOxx-KR
Link to teaser on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o40U8Mn9fUA

One Strange Rock is the extraordinary story of Earth — our curiously calibrated, interconnected planet — and why it is special and uniquely brimming with life among a largely unknown but harsh cosmic arena. Anchoring the series is an elite group of astronauts who see Earth’s bigger picture; they provide unique perspectives and relate personal memoirs of our planet seen from space.

With One Strange Rock, Aronofsky is excited to collaborate with one of his favourite talents. “I am thrilled to have Will Smith on board to guide our series. His charisma, intelligence and humanity will add greatly to the project, helping welcome viewers into this unique narrative about the mind-blowing wonders that make life on Earth possible,” he said.

“By pairing the incomparable, out-of-this-world, global appeal of Will Smith with our rock-star astronauts, who literally went out of this world, we tell the incredible story of the complexities of our planet,” says Tim Pastore, president, original programming and production, National Geographic. “With the distinctive storytelling from Aronofsky and Root, One Strange Rock will be an incredible visual treat, taking audiences from the microscopic to the cosmic, leaving viewers to see and appreciate our planet as never before.”

“Our goal here is to reimagine factual programming and give viewers a cinematic spectacle like they have never seen before,” says Root. “We’ll unpack the science behind our marvellous planet, and provide stories that are entertaining and provocative; and who better to do that with than the visionary Darren Aronofsky and his partners at Protozoa Pictures, the incomparable Will Smith and our team of legendary astronauts?”

Adding to Smith’s appeal, One Strange Rock’s astronauts bring singular insight and emotion to the narrative, weaving dramatic, inspiring sequences and science to reveal the magical twists of fate that allowed life on Earth to emerge, thrive and survive. Their personal experiences are portals to vital themes explored throughout the series, including the genesis of life, death, breath, cosmic violence, human intelligence, sacrifice, terraforming and more.

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  Chris Hadfield – The first Canadian astronaut to command the International Space Station and the only Canadian to have ever boarded the Russian Space Station Mir while in orbit, Hadfield has left Earth three times and spent a total of 166 days in space.
  

• Jeff Hoffman – Logging 21.5 million miles in space, Brooklyn-born astronomer and former astronaut Hoffman has flown to space five times, one of which was the first mission to reach the Hubble Space Telescope.
  
• Mae Jemison – Former astronaut Jemison just celebrated the 25th anniversary of her mission to space aboard the Endeavour, making history as the first African-American woman to go to space.
  
• Jerry Linenger – Former astronaut Linenger, who survived the most severe fire ever aboard an orbiting spacecraft, spent nearly five months on the Russian space station Mir and logged 50 million miles on that mission alone.
  
• Mike Massimino – The first person to send a tweet from space, former astronaut Massimino flew on two space shuttle missions to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
  
• Leland Melvin – The only person drafted into the NFL to have flown to space, former astronaut Melvin blasted off to space twice and logged more than 565 hours there.
  
• Nicole Stott – Known as the “Artistic Astronaut”, former astronaut and aquanaut Stott, who became the first astronaut to paint in space, logged 104 days in space and nearly three weeks on Aquarius undersea habitat.
  
• Peggy Whitson – Astronaut Whitson just completed her third journey to space, setting a NASA record for the most days in space — 665.

  About Will Smith

  As an actor, producer and musician, two-time Academy Award® nominee and Grammy Award winner Will Smith has enjoyed a diverse career encompassing films, television and multiplatinum records.

  Smith’s vast filmography includes transformative portrayals of true-life icons in Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness and Concussion. He has headlined an extraordinary list of films, including Hitch, I am Legend, I, Robot, Independence Day, Men in Black I, II, and III and Suicide Squad and most recently appeared in Collateral Beauty. His next project is the upcoming fantasy cop drama film, Bright, which is scheduled for release on 22 December exclusively for Netflix. Smith is currently in production on Disney’s Aladdin, in the role of the Genie, to be released 24 May 2019 and will also star in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man.

  He began his career as a musician selling millions of records worldwide before crossing over into television with the beloved Fresh Prince of Bel Air. In 1998 he and partner James Lassiter founded production and management company Overbrook Entertainment, which has produced numerous top film and television projects.

  In addition to his artistic achievements, he founded the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation with his wife, Jada. WJSFF is a non-profit, philanthropic organisation committed to improving lives and investing in organisations and initiatives that empower traditionally overlooked communities.

  Rounding out the One Strange Rock production team, Arif Nummohamed (Earth’s Natural Wonders, How to Build a Planet) is co-executive producer and showrunner.

  NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PRESENTS
  A NUTOPIA AND PROTOZOA PICTURES AND OVERBROOK ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION
  “ONE STRANGE ROCK”
  HOSTED BY WILL SMITH
  MUSIC BY DANIEL PEMBERTON
  CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ARIF NURMOHAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS DARREN ARONOFSKY JANE ROOT
  ARI HANDEL PETER LOVERING SCOTT FRANKLIN TIM PASTORE MATT RENNER

  One Strange Rock (9 x 60)

  Wednesdays at 20h05, from 28 March.