The Right Stuff (franchise)

The Right Stuff franchise consists of American historical drama installments, including film and television mediums. Each installment details the aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base in California, United States, which lead to the Mercury Seven where seven military pilots were selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury; the first human spaceflight by the United States. Pilots were chosen from the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. A television series was developed by Warner Bros. for National Geographic, and upon being acquired by The Walt Disney Company, the studio also green-lit a documentary feature film; both were released as streaming exclusives available on Disney+.

The Right Stuff
Official franchise logo
Based onThe Right Stuff
by Tom Wolfe
StarringVarious
(See list below)
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures,
Disney+
Release date
1983–present
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$27,000,000
(Cumulative of 1 theatrical film)
Box office$21,713,000
(Cumulative of 1 theatrical film)

The original film was met with critical and box office success, and was nominated for various Academy Awards;[1] winning a number of those nominations.[2] In contrast to these accolades, the movie was a disappointment financially at the box office.[3] Conversely the television series adaptation, was met with negative reviews from critics and viewers alike who compared it as inferior to the original.[4][5][6] The accompanying documentary movie was met with a mixed response with praise given to its director for the use of archival recordings and lack of modern-day narration,[7][8] but complaints calling it "boring".[9][10] Despite this reception and its cancellation on Disney+, the television show was actively being shopped around to other networks and streaming services at that time.[11]

Film
Film U.S.
release date		 Director Writer Producers
The Right Stuff October 21, 1983 (1983-10-21) Philip Kaufman Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff
The Real Right Stuff November 20, 2020 (2020-11-20) Tom Jennings Rob Kirk and Chris Morcom

The Right Stuff (1983)
Main article: The Right Stuff (film)

The non-fiction account of the first fifteen years of America's space program are explored, detailing the experiences of the lives of test pilots who became known as the Mercury Seven, including: Chuck Yeager, Virgil Grissom, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Alan Shepard, Walter Schirra, and Donald Slayton. Explored in detail are the dangers and pitfalls that transpired during NASA's earliest attempts, failures, and achievements. During a time of national political turmoil and a race to become the dominant power in space travel, each of their familial trials are depicted with personal crises they endured resulting in great technological innovation and advancements as well.[2][12][13][14][15]

The Real Right Stuff (2020)

Released as a documentary feature film created through a compilation of archival footage, photographs, and audio; the film details the events that transpired in the space race during the Cold War. The events detailed include America's technological advancements in space exploration, and the original Mercury Seven astronauts who played a role in completing these missions. The Real Right Stuff shows how these historical events inspired the future, including modern-day scientific studies of outer space.[16][10][9][8][7]

Television
Main article: The Right Stuff (TV series)

In July 2017, a television series adaptation of the 1983 film was announced as being in development.[17] By February 2019, the project was ordered to series and was created and written by Will Staples, with Mark Lafferty serving as showrunner. The show centered around the same factual events that were depicted in the original movie, though expanded upon with additional detail given the long-form storytelling format. The project was a joint-venture production between National Geographic Studios, Appian Way Productions, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Horizon Scripted Television, and Disney+ Originals; while National Geographic handled distribution through its parent company The Walt Disney Company, exclusively via their Disney+ streaming service.[18][19]

The Right Stuff debuted on October 9, 2020 and lasted until November 20, 2020; including a total of eight episodes. The series was met with mixed critical reception overall, being declared inferior to the feature film.[5][6][20] By April 2021, the television show was canceled at Disney+ and not renewed for a second season despite earlier plans to do so.[21] The series was being shopped around to other networks for a renewal at that point in time, and as the series was created by Warner Bros. Television and developed for National Geographic prior to the latter's acquisition by The Walt Disney Company, HBO Max and Turner Network Television are frontrunners in the acquiring series move. Though the cast's contracts were pending termination, the associated studios are working to negotiate for a second season.[11][22]

Main cast and characters
Character Film Television
The Right Stuff The Real Right Stuff
Charles "Chuck" Yeager Sam Shepard Charles "Chuck" Yeager Referenced
Virgil "Gus" Grissom Fred Ward Virgil "Gus" Grissom Michael Trotter
Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Dennis Quaid Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Colin O'Donoghue
John Glenn Ed Harris John Glenn Patrick J. Adams
Alan Shepard Scott Glenn Alan Shepard Jake McDorman
Walter "Wally" Schirra Lance Henriksen Walter "Wally" Schirra Aaron Staton
Donald "Deke" Slayton Scott Paulin Donald "Deke" Slayton Micah Stock
Scott Carpenter Charles Frank Scott Carpenter James Lafferty

Additional crew and production details
Title Crew/Detail
Composer(s) Cinematographer(s) Editor(s) Production
companies		 Distributing
company		 Running time
The Right Stuff Bill Conti Caleb Deschanel Glenn Farr, Lisa Fruchtman, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart & Tom Rolf The Ladd Company Warner Bros. Pictures 3 hrs 12 mins
The Real Right Stuff James Everingham,[23] and Hans Zimmer[8] Archival recordings
and materials compiled by:
Tom Jennings		 David Tillman Walt Disney Television,
1985 Films,
National Geographic Original Documentaries		 Disney+ 2 hrs
The Right Stuff
(TV series)		 Adam Taylor Evans Brown, Christopher Norr, Peter Menzies Jr., and Adam Suschitzky Matt Barber, Paul Karasick, Pattye Rogers, Matthew Colona & Luyen Vu Walt Disney Television,
Appian Way Productions,
Warner Horizon Television Studios,
National Geographic Original Series		 6 hrs
(45 mins episodes)

Reception

Box office and financial performance
Title Box office gross Box office ranking Budget Worldwide
Total loss		 Ref.
North America Other territories Worldwide All time
North America		 All time
worldwide
The Right Stuff $21,500,000 $213 $21,713,000 #3,488 #22,238 $27,000,000 -$5,287,000 [3]

Critical and public response
Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
The Right Stuff 96% (50 reviews)[1] 91/100 (16 reviews)[24]
The Real Right Stuff — (4 reviews)[25] —
The Right Stuff (TV series) 55% (31 reviews) [4] 61/100 (22 reviews)[26]

References
  1. "The Right Stuff (1983)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  2. Knight, Arthur (October 21, 2016). "'The Right Stuff': THR's 1983 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  3. "The Right Stuff". The Numbers. Nash Information Services LLC. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  4. "The Right Stuff (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  5. Framke, Caroline (October 9, 2020). "'The Right Stuff' Is a Solid, Unremarkable Version of Space Stories Past: TV Review". Variety. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  6. Sepinwall, Alan (October 8, 2020). "'The Right Stuff': An Iconic Space Story That Never Takes Flight". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  7. Carney, Emily (November 19, 2023). "'The Real Right Stuff' Illuminates Mercury Program, Debuts Rare Material". National Space Society. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  8. Bradley, Tony (November 19, 2020). "'The Real Right Stuff' Reveals Rare And Unseen Material To Tell The Story Of The First Americans In Space". Forbes. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  9. Serba, John (November 21, 2020). "Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Real Right Stuff' on Disney+, a Stiff and Draggy Documentary About the Mercury Seven Astronauts". Decider. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  10. Nicholson, Amy (November 20, 2020). "'The Real Right Stuff' Review: A Movie Still Waiting for Liftoff". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  11. Andreeva, Nellie (April 2, 2021). "'The Right Stuff' Canceled By Disney+ After One Season, Shopped By Warner Bros. TV". Deadline. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  12. Fraser, Rob (January 1, 2000). "The Right Stuff Review". Empire. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  13. Canby, Vincent (October 12, 1983). "FILM: 'Right Stuff', on Astronauts". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  14. Benson, Sheila (December 8, 2016). "From the Archives: Our original film review of 'The Right Stuff' holds clues for John Glenn's path to senator". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  15. "The Right Stuff". RogerEbert.com. May 16, 2002. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  16. Bui, Hoai-Tran (October 14, 2020). "National Geographic's 'The Real Right Stuff' Documentary to Premiere on Disney+ this November". Slash Film. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  17. Andreeva, Nellie (July 25, 2017). "Nat Geo Teams With Leonardo DiCaprio To Adapt 'The Right Stuff' As Scripted Series". Deadline. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  18. White, Peter (February 10, 2019). "Nat Geo Hands Series Order To Adaptation Of Tom Wolfe's 'The Right Stuff' From Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  19. Andreeva, Nellie (August 20, 2020). "'The Right Stuff': Nat Geo's Mercury 7 Drama Series Gets Fall Premiere Date On Disney+ – Update". Deadline. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  20. Saraiya, Sonia (October 9, 2020). "The Right Stuff Wants to Be Mad Men in Space, But Fizzles". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  21. Low, Elaine (April 2, 2021). "Disney Plus' 'The Right Stuff' Canceled After One Season But Warner Bros. TV Shopping Series Around". Variety. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  22. Leishman, Rachel (April 3, 2021). "'The Right Stuff' Is Officially the First Scripted Series Not Renewed by Disney+". Collider. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  23. Film Music Reporter (October 17, 2020). "National Geographic's 'The Real Right Stuff' to Feature Original Score by James Everingham". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  24. "The Right Stuff". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  25. "The Real Right Stuff". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  26. "The Right Stuff". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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