The team behind Tom Hanks' upcoming documentary series The Americas spent five years and went on 180 expeditions for the 10-episode series, Variety reported. An extra episode has been allotted for a look behind the scenes to show how the series was created.
Universal Television Alternative Studios (UTAS) is co-producing the series with BBC Studios' Natural History Unit. This is a big swing for the studios, especially for UTAS in the wildlife documentary space.
Tom Hanks goes on a deep dive on The Americas
UTAS president Toby Gorman said that The America is the studio's most expensive unscripted project in the history of NBCUniversal.
BBC Studios Factual creative director Mike Gunton proposed a “full job” on the North and South American land masses.
“We had never thought about doing it in our back yard and that’s what was so special about the concept Mike brought to us,” Gunton said.
According to the Gunton, “There's nowhere on earth which has this range. Its head is almost in the Arctic and its toes are almost in the Antarctic. It splits the two greatest oceans on the plant, the Atlantic and the Pacific. And it crosses every longitude: the tropics and the equator, deserts, ice caps — you can't imagine anything more diverse.”
A-list voice and music for A-list animals
Paired with the “A-list animals” is Hanks who Gunton and Gorman describe as the American version of Sir David Attenborough, the iconic natural historian, and Hans Zimmer. The Academy Award-winning actor is narrating while the music will be scored by Oscar winner Zimmer.
The series is set to premiere on NBC in 2025. No announcements have been made as to where it will be available outside the US.
Gorman insisted that while The Americas is set to be a unique television experience, he wanted entertainment to be at the forefront of the series.
“It had to have comedy, it had to have emotion; it had to feel like a mini movie,” he added.
Most natural and wildlife documentaries usually focus on the flora and fauna found outside North and South America. I'm looking forward to when it's available as it is one of the rare shows from a large studio that focuses on both the continents.
Usually, especially for wildlife, documentaries center on Latin America; while docs on North America focus on ancient tribes and their culture and traditions.
Hanks most recently executive produced the World War II drama Masters of the Air. He has upcoming projects currently in development: another WWII drama, this time on the 82nd Airborne Division; the other one is a biopic of singer-songwriter Carole King, Beautiful.
Zimmer most recently scored the Denis Villeneuve hit movie Dune: Part 2. He's announced that he's already working on the music for Dune: Messiah. Zimmer also executive produced the music for the upcoming Prime Video series The Blue Angels.
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