Media Release

HBO Max Greenlights The Uninhabitable Earth, Written and Directed by Oscar® and Emmy® Award Winner Adam McKay

WarnerMedia TCA Winter 2020

Anthology Series Inspired by David Wallace-Wells’ Global Best-Selling Book and New York Magazine Article About the Impending Perils of Climate Change   McKay’s Hyperobject Industries, wiip and Animal Kingdom to Executive Produce

PASADENA – January 15, 2020  HBO Max announced from the stage at the WarnerMedia Television Critics Association (TCA) Day, a greenlight for Oscar® and Emmy® Award-winning writer Adam McKay’s (Succession, The Big Short) The Uninhabitable Earth. This anthology series from wiip is inspired by David Wallace-Wells’ global best-selling book and New York Magazine article of the same name and will be comprised of stand-alone fictional stories covering a wide range of genres and possible futures that could result from the rapid warming of our planet. McKay, who recently closed a five-year, overall television deal with HBO and HBO Max, is attached to write and direct the first episode. The plan is for the first season to enlist top directors and writers to join in creating a provocative and entertaining series that taps into our unease with just how delicately our planet is teetering on the precipice.
 
“Adam is one of the rare artists who can deliver a pointed, impactful message in a piece of great entertainment,” said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max and president TBS, TNT, and truTV. “I can’t wait to see what he does with this material, as there is no timelier and more relevant message than a wake-up call on climate change and the growing impact on our lives.” 
 
“I’ve been chomping at the bit to get this show going. I’m very happy that HBO Max stepped up and made the commitment. There’s obviously no subject as vast and daunting,” said Adam McKay.
 
In the 2019 #1 New York Times bestseller, The Uninhabitable Earth, author David Wallace-Wells offers readers a travelogue of the near future and the impending terrors – rising sea levels, food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation – we will all face. His work forecasts all of the ways the world will be forever transformed if we don’t take swift, sweeping measures.
 
The Uninhabitable Earth is executive produced by Hyperobject Industries’ Adam McKay and Kevin Messick (Succession), wiip’s Paul Lee (Dickinson) and Mark Roybal (No Country for Old Men), and Animal Kingdom’s David Kaplan (It Follows) and Andrea Roa (It Comes at Night). David Wallace-Wells serves as a consulting producer.


About HBO Max 
HBO Max 
is WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer offering debuting in spring 2020. With 10,000 hours of curated premium content anticipated at launch, HBO Max will offer powerhouse programming for everyone in the home, bringing together HBO, a robust slate of new original series, key third-party licensed programs and movies, and fan favorites from WarnerMedia’s rich library including Warner Bros., New Line, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes and more. Sign up for updates at HBOMax.com.
 
About WarnerMedia
WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content from a diverse array of talented storytellers and journalists to global audiences through its consumer brands including: HBO, HBO Now, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and others. WarnerMedia is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T).
 
About wiip (word.idea.imagination.production.)
wiip is an independent studio led by seasoned entertainment executive Paul Lee and is distinctive in its commitment to letting talent do what talent does best – create. wiip develops and produces content for digital and global platforms and serves as the lead studio for multiple projects including critically-acclaimed “Dickinson” for Apple TV+; “Dummy” for Quibi and “Queen America” for Facebook Watch. wiip also serves as the co-studio alongside HBO on limited series “Mare of Easttown” and “The  White House Plumbers” and is co-producer of five exclusive original series between digital horror network Crypt TV and Facebook Watch.
 
About Hyperobject Industries
Hyperobject Industries is a multi-platform production company from Academy-Award winning writer-director-producer Adam McKay. The company’s name is a shout-out to environmental philosopher Timothy Morton’s use of the term ‘hyperobject’ and his belief that humankind needs to re-evaluate its relationship with nature as a whole. The team includes McKay’s longtime producer Kevin Messick and producers Betsy Koch and Todd Schulman. Hyperobject Industries’s focus is wide ranging from comedies, dramas, horror, documentaries and documentaries-series as well as politically charged and challenging subjects with which McKay has become synonymous. Television projects include the previously announced HBO limited series, chronicling the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers as well as a limited series based on Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown’s upcoming book about Jeffrey Epstein. McKay and Messick continue to serve as Executive Producers on HBO’s critically acclaimed and Golden Globe-winning series Succession, which will head into production this year for its third season.
 
About Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is a New York City based media company established in 2012 by Joshua Astrachan, David Kaplan and Frederick W. Green, that partnered with BRON Ventures in 2018 to expand into new forms of media as well as representation. A consistent producer of awards-worthy fare, the company's credits include such critically acclaimed titles as Short Term 12It Follows, Louder Than BombsPatersonBeach RatsTrampsIt Comes at Night and The Dead Don't Die.


HBO MAX PUBLICITY CONTACTS

Jori Arancio
818-729-7336
jori.arancio@turner.com
 
Raina Falcon
818-559-7920
raina.falcon@turner.com
 
Scott Radloff
818-729-7469
scott.radloff@turner.com