'The Right Stuff' Disney Plus Release Date, Cast, Trailer Plot: All You Need to Know About the NASA Drama
The Right Stuff was originally a scripted series made for National Geographic, but the adaptation of the Tom Wolfe book (which was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1983) is now coming to Disney+, with a release date scheduled for this fall.
The cast of the NASA drama has been announced, and includes former Suits, Mad Men and Once Upon A Time stars playing astronauts. The NASA employees will appear in a plot that sees them taking part in Project Mercury, the first American attempts to get a man into space. Nat Geo released a trailer for the series, giving space fans their first look at the show.
When is The Right Stuff out on Disney+?
An exact release date for the NatGeo series has not been revealed. However, TVLine reports that the show will be coming in the fall to the streamer. Per IMDB, the show will have eight episodes, which are expected to air weekly—like the majority of Disney+'s shows.
Viewers who want to see the 1983 version of the story, which won four Oscars, can purchase it from a number of digital entertainment stores, including FandangoNow, Amazon and YouTube. Though the Philip Kaufman movie does not have a streaming home at present, it is one of the movies that Disney acquired through its purchase of 20th Century Fox, meaning that it is likely to come to Disney+ in the lead up to the release of the new version.
Who is in the cast of The Right Stuff?
Heading the cast of this new version of The Right Stuff is former Suits lead Patrick J. Adams, playing the first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn—the role played by Ed Harris in the movie. Limitless star Jake McDorman, meanwhile, will play test pilot Alan Shepard, the first American in space (as played by Scott Glenn in the movie)
Joining them in the NASA Project Mercury team are:
- Colin O'Donoghue (Once Upon A Time)—Gordon Cooper
- Aaron Staton (Mad Men)—Wally Schirra
- James Lafferty (One Tree Hill)—Scott Carpenter
- Micah Stock (Escape at Dannemora)—Deke Slayton
- Michael Trotter (Underground)—Gus Grissom
What will happen in The Right Stuff?
The current logline for the series reads: "U.S. fighter pilots are recruited to test experimental aircraft and rockets to become first Mercury astronauts. TV adaptation of Tom Wolfe's book, The Right Stuff."
The synopsis for that book gives viewers more hints of what to expect: "What is it, asks Tom Wolfe, that makes a man willing to sit on top of an enormous Roman Candle...and wait for someone to light the fuse? Arrogance? Stupidity? Bravery? Courage? Or, simply, that quality we call 'the right stuff'?
"A monument to the men who battled to beat the Russians into space, The Right Stuff is a voyage into the mythology of the American space program, and a dizzying dive into the sweat, fear, beauty and danger of being on the white-hot edge of history in the making."
Speaking in the trailer for the NatGeo/Disney+ series, showrunner and former Halt and Catch Fire producer Mark Lafferty says: "Any good story isn't just applicable to the time it takes place. When we put our minds to something as human beings, we have done things that might seem unachievable. Innovation, aspiration...that's a big part of the reason we want to tell this story now."
The Right Stuff is coming this fall to Disney+.
