Kristen Stewart is set to portray Sally Ride in an upcoming limited TV series titled “The Challenger”. The series will chronicle the story of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster and is expected to release around the 40th anniversary of the tragedy in 2026.
The series, reportedly nearing a deal with Amazon, is based on Meredith Bagby’s 2022 book, “The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts That Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel”. It will focus on Ride’s journey as the first American woman in space in 1983 and her subsequent role in the Rogers Commission, the presidential committee assembled to investigate the Challenger disaster. While Ride was not aboard the ill-fated shuttle, she played a crucial part in identifying the issue with the shuttle’s O-rings, which led to the explosion.
The series is developed by Kyra Sedgwick and Valerie Stadler’s Big Swing Productions, with Sedgwick also serving as an executive producer. Maggie Cohn, known for her work on “American Crime Story” and “The Staircase”, will serve as writer and showrunner.
In a statement, Sedgwick expressed her enthusiasm for Stewart’s casting, saying, “Who better to play Sally Ride than one of the great actors of her generation?” Stewart, known for her roles in “Twilight” and “Spencer”, is expected to make her television debut with this series.
The Challenger disaster has been the subject of previous explorations, including a 2013 TV movie and a 2019 film, both titled “The Challenger Disaster”. Additionally, a 2020 Netflix docuseries, “Challenger: The Final Flight”, offered an in-depth examination of the tragedy through the perspectives of those involved.
