Disney Investor Day: National Geographic Fact Sheet

With more than 1500 hours of National Geographic content available on Disney+, including award-winning documentaries, landmark wildlife and natural history, and premium fact-based scripted drama, National Geographic content president, Courteney Monroe, unveiled details of its ambitious new slate of originals exclusively for Disney+. “We are without question living in an extraordinary time,” said Monroe. “And yet, National Geographic reminds us that the world is still an amazing and miraculous place, filled with spectacular beauty and wonder, which we are thrilled to share with the Disney+ audience.”

The new slate of high-profile National Geographic originals for Disney+ includes LIMITLESS WITH CHRIS HEMSWORTH, WELCOME TO EARTH (Working Title) featuring Will Smith, and a fourth season of the Emmy^®-winning anthology series GENIUS, which will profile Martin Luther King, Jr.

Also announced was the new documentary film COUSTEAU, which will debut in theatres before coming to Disney+, as well as new documentary series SECRETS OF THE WHALES, A REAL BUG’S LIFE, and AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.

Full descriptions of these titles are below. Photos can be found HERE.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY FILMS

COUSTEAU – From National Geographic Documentary Films, the studio behind Oscar^® winner FREE SOLO, two-time Academy Award^® nominee Liz Garbus (“What Happened, Miss Simone?,” “The Farm: Angola, USA”), Academy Award winner Dan Cogan (“Icarus”), and in partnership with Story Syndicate and The Cousteau Society, the life of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau is told through a treasure trove of previously unseen archival material. Featuring never-before-seen 4K footage from the Cousteau Society’s archives, COUSTEAU will provide audiences a “deep dive” into the renowned explorer’s remarkable life, revealing the man behind some of the world’s most significant contributions to contemporary environmentalism. Academy Award winner Evan Hayes of FREE SOLO is also a producer for this film. After festivals and a planned theatrical release, the film will be available exclusively to Disney+ subscribers.

DISNEY+ ORIGINALS FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

SCRIPTED SERIES

GENIUS: MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. – From executive producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, the Emmy Award-winning GENIUS scripted franchise continues exclusively for Disney+ subscribers beginning with season four, which will explore the extraordinary life and immeasurable impact of Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr., who led seismic change in the civil rights movement in America. It will explore how Reverend King, a Baptist minister, became one of the most influential and inspirational African American leaders in history. GENIUS dramatizes the fascinating stories of the world’s most brilliant innovators, exploring their extraordinary achievements along with their volatile, passionate and complex personal relationships. The first season starred Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein, season two starred Antonio Banderas as Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, and the highly anticipated third season will feature Cynthia Erivo as music icon Aretha Franklin.

UNSCRIPTED SERIES

SECRETS OF THE WHALES – From executive producer and National Geographic Explorer-at-Large James Cameron, narrated by Sigourney Weaver, SECRETS OF THE WHALES is the work of acclaimed National Geographic Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry, as he helps tell the story of a species he’s been documenting for decades. Filmed across 24 locations over three years, it’s a profoundly personal saga, venturing deep into the world of whales to reveal life and love from their perspective. The four-part event series will tell the stories of the extraordinary cultures of five different whale species—orcas, belugas, narwhals, sperm whales and humpback whales.

A REAL BUG’S LIFE – A REAL BUG’S LIFE will be one of the most ambitious and innovative natural history series ever to be made. Only now, with recent advancements in miniaturized technology, can we meet these extraordinary little characters and see our colossal world through their tiny eyes. A REAL BUG’S LIFE takes viewers on an unforgettable journey that exposes us to how these microsized creatures keep our world turning while facing monstrous forces and threats. From New York’s Central Park to your own backyard, each episode immerses the viewer inside a microcosm, where tiny yet extraordinary creatures rely on their mighty abilities to make it through the day. In ten spellbinding episodes, we take you on adventures into a world beyond your imagination to show you what life is like on planet Earth from a bug’s eye view.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL – It’s the land we love and the land we think we know. We see America’s breathtaking landscapes and wildlife as timeless, but the truth is very different. Its unique geography drives the forces of nature to extremes, shaping and reshaping the land and throwing down new challenges for life. From the award-winning producers of “Planet Earth,” Frozen Planet” and the “Disneynature” films, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL is the ambitious story of our home. Led by the iconic species that resonate with us most, we’re going to journey through America’s visually spectacular regions: the Frozen North, the Wild West, the Grassy Heartland, the Deep South and the Mountainous High Wilderness.

LIMITLESS WITH CHRIS HEMSWORTH – What if you could combat aging and discover the full potential of the human body? Global movie star Chris Hemsworth (“Extraction,” “Thor,” “The Avengers”) explores this revolutionary idea in the new National Geographic original series, LIMITLESS WITH CHRIS HEMSWORTH, created by Darren Aronofsky and hailing from his production company Protozoa Pictures and Jane Root’s Nutopia. New scientific research is shattering conventional wisdom about the human body and offering fascinating insights into how we can all unlock our body’s superpowers to fight illness, perform better and even reverse the aging process! This science is put to the test by Hemsworth, who, despite being in peak superhero-condition, is on a personal mission to learn how to stay young, healthy, strong, and resilient. Undergoing a series of epic trials and extraordinary challenges in order to understand the limits of the human body, he’ll learn firsthand how we can live better for longer by discovering ways to regenerate damage, maximize strength, build resilience, supercharge memory and confront mortality. Entertaining, immersive and life-changing, LIMITLESS will rewrite the rulebook on living better for longer.

WELCOME TO EARTH (WORKING TITLE) – Hailing from Jane Root’s Nutopia and Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, the world’s most charismatic movie star, Will Smith (“Ali,” “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Bad Boys,” “Bad Boys II,” “Bad Boys For Life” and “Men in Black” I, II, III), embarks on an awe-inspiring global journey to unlock the secrets of the most extraordinary and unexplained phenomena of nature. In each episode, Smith—whose curiosity and wonder is positively infectious—is guided by National Geographic Explorers traveling to different corners of the world to get up close and personal with the weirdest, most unusual, dangerous and thrilling spectacles of the planet. Their mission is to seek out the things and places beyond human perception: the hidden worlds that we can’t see, smell, hear or feel. Only with the aid of cutting-edge technology is it possible to uncover these natural wonders. Smith discovers there are hidden worlds all around us, from the farthest reaches to our doorsteps. He learns how the tiniest details have enormous consequences for this place we call home. This is Earth as you have never seen it before.

About National Geographic Partners

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between the National Geographic Society and Disney, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 132 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.