NEW DELHI, Aug 13: Anthony Mackie, Ariana DeBose and John Leguizamo are set to headline “Exoplanet,” a new Audible Original sci-fi thriller scheduled to launch exclusively on the audio platform on November 5.
Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary, serves as an executive producer, while acclaimed novelist Benjamin Percy has written the series, Audible said in a statement.
The story follows the crew of the starship Wild Blue Yonder, whose spacecraft is torn apart by a quantum anomaly. The surviving members are left stranded in different eras on the same dangerous exoplanet and must find a way to communicate across centuries to stay alive.
Mackie voices Chief Engineer Jeff Shaw, who arrives in the present and relies on his virtual assistant to navigate the hostile world. His determination to return to his daughter becomes a driving force as he searches for a way home.
DeBose plays First Officer Becca Bang, who becomes trapped in the planet’s perilous alien past. Leguizamo voices Science Officer Logan Bowers, who awakens in a machine controlled future that was never supposed to exist.
As the survivors attempt to understand their circumstances, they discover that the quantum anomaly may not have been accidental. An alien intelligence capable of feeding on human technology has been tracking them across different timelines.
The crew must overcome the barriers created by time and establish contact with one another before the hostile planet and the mysterious entity leave them with no chance of survival.
Weir said the production combines scientific problem-solving and survival with the emotional challenge of people being separated by centuries rather than physical distance.
Percy said the audio format gives the story an opportunity to create tension through voices and sounds travelling across an enormous gap in time.
Audible Content for North America head Marshall Lewy said the production was designed specifically for audio, with scripts crafted to maximise the strengths of the medium.
The supporting cast features Cherry Jones, Sufe Bradshaw, Charlie Plummer, Ray Porter and Aida Osman.