Bill Nighy to play David Bowie role in The Man Who Fell To Earth TV sequel

4 February 2022, 11:40

Watch the official trailer for The Man Who Fell To Earth

Thomas Jerome Newton has one last swing at fulfilling his mission.

Arguably David Bowie's greatest movie role was the lead in The Man Who Fell To Earth.

Bowie played alien Thomas Jerome Newton in Nicolas Roeg's 1976 classic, who arrives on Earth with the aim of bringing back water to his drought-ravaged home planet.

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Showtime had already announced a TV version of The Man Who Fell To Earth starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris, and they've now announced who'll be taking over from Bowie... Love Actually star Bill Nighy.

"I was honoured to be invited to play the part of Thomas Jerome Newton that glorious David Bowie made so famous," said Nighy.

"I was keen to work with Chiwetel and Naomie again. I think the story is terrific and brilliantly expressed."

He added: "I am an enthusiast for shows which extrapolate from current technology and give us plausible glimpses of a possible near future.

"It's an important story which, as well as being highly entertaining, discusses the crucial issues of our time.

"I like to think that the film makers of the original film would applaud Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet for their imaginative daring and loyal regard."

Kurtzman and Lumet are writing the series, and will also be showrunners together with John Hlavin.

Watch the teaser for The Man Who Fell To Earth

Nighy worked with Ejiofor on Love Actually, while he worked with Harris on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.

The main cast of the show is rounded out by Jimmi Simpson, Rob Delaney, Sonya Cassidy, Joana Ribeiro, Annelle Olaleye, Kate Mulgrew and Clarke Peters.

Deadline reports that the new TV series appears to be set around 40 years after the events of the movie, with a now-alone and desperate Newton contacting Faraday (Ejiofor) in a bid to finish his original mission.

The Man Who Fell To Earth was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, who also wrote The Hustler, The Color of Money and The Queen's Gambit.