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Joel Kinnaman Cast in Apple's Space Series From Ron Moore
It looks as though Joel Kinnaman will be staying in the realm of expensive, ambitious sci-fi projects for the foreseeable future, as the actor and two others sign on for Ron Moore’s space-faring drama from Apple. The as-yet-untitled drama brings the creator of SYFY’s Battlestar Galactica and Starz’s Outlander back to outer space to tell a story of an alternate history where the global space race never ended, presumably pushing humankind well past the distance traveled by modern-day astronauts.
The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television and Moore’s Tall Ship Productions, and is part of Apple’s big push into the original content game. The tech giant has made a few quiet steps into creating its own content, with the likes of Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps — a Shark Tank-like series where entrepreneurs pitch the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow on their app ideas in order to secure financing. But the company is reportedly spending big in order to attract talent and eventually compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, with Moore’s project joining in-the-works shows from Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, and the recently announced TV series based on Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits.
As reported by Deadline, Kinnaman is one of three actors cast in Moore’s new series. Joining him are Sarah Jones and Michael Dorman. Kinnaman will reportedly play top NASA astronaut Edward Baldwin, while Dorman and Jones will play an astronaut couple, Gordo and Tracy Stephens. Beyond the concept and now the characters’ names, there’s not much else to go on with regard to the series.
Still, Kinnman is likely to be a draw for the show, especially considering his roles of late have seen him return over and over again to genre work. Most recently, the actor was seen in season 1 of Neftlix’s expensive sci-fi series Altered Carbon. Soon after the series dropped, Kinnaman suggested he wouldn’t be back for season 2 (his character, Takeshi Kovacs will be played by Anthony Mackie in the new season), and he signed on to appear alongside his The Killing co-star, Mireille Enos, in Amazon’s upcoming TV series Hanna, based on the Joe Wright film of the same name.
Meanwhile, Jones is making a return to science fiction following roles in the J.J. Abrams-produced Alcatraz, though she’s also been seen in Hulu’s The Path and USA’s Damnation. Dorman can be seen on Amazon’s quirky spy-drama Patriot, the second season of which will hit this year.
With a solid cast and what sounds like a compelling concept, the series is moving along nicely. With any luck, it’ll be handed a title before too long, so we can stop calling it Moore’s planned Apple sci-fi series.
