National Geographic’s The Right Stuff adaptation for Disney+ will not be renewed for a second season, according to Deadline. The series, based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 same-named novel about the Mercury 7 space crew, marks the first original series cancellation at Disney+ but Warner Bros. Television is shopping the show around to other companies, including TNT and HBO Max.
The series’ cancellation has been chalked up to a “redesign of NatGeo’s strategic focus,” according to Variety. The source for the article said the cancellation was not due to poor viewership. Instead, there are decisions still being made of whether to extend contracts and keep the same cast, or to jump to the 1980s with a new cast.
The Right Stuff is set in 1959 and chronicles the early days of the United States’ Mercury 7 space team. Within the series, Patrick J. Adams (Suits) and Jake McDorman (Watchmen) lead the show as Major John Glenn and Commander Alan Shepard, respectively.
The rest of the cast includes Colin O’Donoghue (Once Upon a Time) as Lieutenant Gordon Cooper, Aaron Staton (Mad Men) as Wally Schirra, James Lafferty (One Tree Hill) as Scott Carpenter, Micah Stock (Bonding) as Deke Slayton and Michael Trotter (Underground) as Gus Grissom. Nora Zehetner (Maron), Eloise Mumford (Fifty Shades of Grey), Shannon Lucio (The O.C.), Patrick Fischler (Mad Men, Twin Peaks: The Return), Eric Ladin (American Sniper), Danny Strong (Billions) and Josh Cooke (Dexter) also appear in the series.
Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s (The Wolf of Wall Street, Titanic) Appian Way, DiCaprio serves as executive producer, alongside Jennifer Davisson (The Revenant) and showrunner Mark Lafferty (Halt and Catch Fire). Will Staples, Howard Korder (Boardwalk Empire) and Danny Strong also executive produce. Chris Long (The Americans) served as both director and executive producer for the first episode of the series. Thelma Schoonmaker (The Departed, editor) serves as consulting producer, and Michael Hampton (Delirium) is a co-producer.