Scripted drama about Elon Musk and SpaceX blasting off at HBO from Channing Tatum

A scripted TV series about Elon Musk and SpaceX is currently in development at HBO with Channing Tatum (The Hateful Eight) attached as an executive producer, Variety confirmed today. The project will be a limited series of six episodes that adapt Ashlee Vance's nonfiction book from 2015, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. In its review, The New York Times described the work as "smart, light on its feet, and [possessing] a crunchy thoroughness."

In terms of story, the small-screen narrative will follow Musk as he develops the first SpaceX rocket and launches it into orbit with a handpicked team of engineers on a remote island in the Pacific. His dream of humanity colonizing the universe takes one step closer to reality with the first (and successful) manned Falcon 9/Crew Dragon mission on May 30, 2020. The participating NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, have since returned to Earth from the International Space Station.

Credit: HarperCollins

Doug Jung (cinematic scribe on Star Trek Beyond and The Cloverfield Paradox) will write and executive-produce the show, which Tatum is producing under his Free Association banner alongside Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan. Vance and Len Amato (The Normal Heart) are also attached as producers.

Thanks to companies like SpaceX and Tesla, Musk has proved himself a visionary (and sometimes controversial) figure. Nevertheless, he is among the scientific pioneers who are helping lead the way for humanity's potential future among the stars via privately funded space travel programs. He even sent a car into space and the vehicle recently passed by Mars. Musk's net worth is estimated to be $100 billion.