The 2016 film Hidden Figures is being developed into a scripted television series by National Geographic, Variety reports.
The film had great commercial success as it grossed over $235 million worldwide and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including best picture. One of the film’s stars, Octavia Spencer, took home the award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Dorothy Vaughan. The film was based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly and told the true story of three black female mathematicians who were pivotal during the early days of the American space program. The film had a star-studded cast of Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, and more.
As Nat Geo continues to produce scripted series, the show would be the latest venture to join the roster. The cable network, Nat Geo, is the brain child of National Geographic and 21st Century Fox. Thus far, the network has produced the series Genius, which was nominated for 10 Emmy awards. The series follows the lives of influential people of the 20th century as season one followed Albert Einstein and season two highlights Pablo Picasso.
For the TV project, the network decided to ‘keep the family close’ as the show will be executively produced by Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping of Chernin Entertainment, both of whom produced the film. There’s no word yet as to who will play the actresses in the TV series.