MIPCOM: Sony to Blast Celebrities Into Space With Reality Format ‘Milky Way Mission’ (original) (raw)

COLOGNE, Germany – Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is going where no reality TV show has gone before with the launch of Milky Way Mission, a new competition format in which winners will literally be shot into space.

Dutch broadcaster Nederland 1 has commissioned an 8×1-hour first season of the show, created by Tuvalu Media and Simpel Media. Sony will offer Milky Way Mission to international broadcasters at MIPCOM in Cannes next month.

PHOTOS: 81 of Fall TV’s Biggest Stars: THR’s Exclusive Portraits

The format sees ten celebrities living in a special bootcamp, where they undergo rigorous astronaut training. Each week the VIPs undergo a series of physical and mental challenges to try and avoid elimination. The final rounds take place in Mojave, California with the winner getting a seat on a rocket launch just out of earth’s atmosphere into space.

The original cast is expected to be made up of local Dutch celebs. If the format sells internationally, the concept calls for big names from home markets to be cast.

The show was made possible by an exclusive deal between SPT and Dutch-based Space Expedition Corporation (SXC), which will begin commercial trips into space for civilians starting next year. The launches will go straight up around 340,000 feet, or just outside Earth’s atmosphere. U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, is an advisor for SXC.

“For years people have dreamt about the possibility of a show in space. SPT is now poised to make that dream real, thanks to the engineering genius of SXC and the format brilliance of Tuvalu and Simpel,” said Wayne Garvie, chief creative officer of international production at SPT. “While over 100 billion humans have walked the Earth, just a handful have looked back at our planet from space and we will soon be adding to that lucky elite. Testing endurance, agility and bravery, Milky Way Mission is a television format that is genuinely out of this world.”

THR Newsletters

Subscribe Sign Up