Watch The First 5 Minutes Of Showtime's The Man Who Fell To Earth
If you were looking for a David Bowie-influenced cash grab, you've come to the wrong place. Showtime has released a five minute snippet of their upcoming adaptation of "The Man Who Fell To Earth," and while Bowie may have dazzled as a yearning, misunderstood alien who is desperately trying to save his home planet in the 1976 movie adaptation, the Showtime series seems to strike a decidedly different tone. Both versions are based on a novel of the same name by sci-fi author Walter Tevis, which is a little fantastical and a lot melancholy. While we can't say for sure what joys/horrors this latest version will bring us, it paints a sharper, and perhaps even more sinister, sci-fi picture.
It definitely seems to keep some of the sexy stuff though. You almost see a whole butt!
Who doesn't love a keynote speech?
See what I mean? It's a little creepy and sexy at the same time! Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave") is somehow channeling Steve Jobs, a creepy lizard alien, and a sexy naked person all at the same time. The pilot clip plays heavily on the juxtaposition between the polished and buttoned up Ejiofor and the uncanny alien Ejiofor, who claws his way out of a gooey blaze of organic alien matter. Bowie's "The Man Who Fell To Earth" was known for its surreal sequences, and hopefully Showtime doesn't clean their version up too much — the weirder sci-fi is, the better.
Ejiofor's wolf in sheep's clothing charisma shines in this snippet, but the rest of the intriguing cast includes Bill Nighy ("Love Actually"), who will be reprising Bowie's role as the alien Thomas Jerome Newton, Naomie Harris ("Moonlight"), Jimmi Simpson ("Westword"), Kate Mulgrew ("Orange Is the New Black") and more. The synopsis bills the series as a sort of sequel to both the novel and the 70s film:
An alien (Chiwetel Ejiofor) crashes deep into the oilfields of New Mexico with a mission: he must find the brilliant scientist Justin Falls (Naomie Harris), the one woman on earth who can help save his species. Even as he struggles to adapt to our world and to become more "human," her faith in humanity couldn't be lower. An unlikely duo, together they discover that in order to save his world, they must first save ours. An inspired continuation of the novel by Walter Tevis and the iconic 1976 film starring David Bowie.
With our current surge of start-up inspired TV shows ("The Dropout," "Super Pumped," "WeCrashed") it's hard to ignore the sinister Silicon Valley-esque feel of this Showtime clip, but hopefully that's not all there is to this modern day sci-fi adaptation. If this five minute slice of the series is accurate, it could be just as strange and alluring as the cult classic we all know and love.
"The Man Who Fell to Earth" premieres Sunday, April 24, 2022.