Kristen Stewart is set to play a true American hero, Sally Ride, in The Challenger, a TV miniseries that Amazon MGM is close to acquiring. Ride was the NASA astronaut and physicist who in 1983 became the first American woman to fly in space. This will be the first major starring TV series role for Stewart.
The Challenger is based on The New Guys, a book written by Meredith E. Bagby. Writing the screenplay and acting as showrunner is Maggie Cohn, known for her work on American Crime Story and The Staircase. Stewart will exec-produce along with actress Kyra Sedgewick and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners.
Sally Ride became an instant celebrity and feminist icon when she joined the NASA space shuttle program in 1978, a diverse group that also included the first Black and Asian astronauts. Ride also became the first member of the LGBTQ community in space when she flew in 1983, and also the youngest at just 32-years-old. In 1986, she would join the commission to investigate the loss of space shuttle Challenger
Stewart has already had a busy year with the release of Love Lies Bleeding, and the experimental Sundance romance Love Me. She was also part of Michael Angarano’s comedy Sacramento which just debuted at Tribeca this week. [Deadline]
