Lee Majors and the late Nichelle Nichols will be featured in a science-fiction pilot that Manhattan Beach producers said Wednesday is being created entirely through generative artificial intelligence.
“Manhattan Transfer,” based on a novel by John E. Stith, is in production at Skyrocket Studios and is intended as a pilot for a potential television series, according to the producers.
Majors, 87, will play Matt Sheehan and will be presented as a younger visual version of himself through generative AI and authorized digital recreation, producers said.
Majors became a television star in the title role of “The Six Million Dollar Man” and later played stuntman Colt Seavers in “The Fall Guy.”
Nichols, known worldwide for portraying Lt. Uhura in “Star Trek,” is credited as Nova Taylor, a world-renowned astrophysicist. Her son and executor of her estate, Kyle Johnson, said Nichols had discussed the role with series creator Sky Conway before her death.
“Years before my mom passed away, Sky talked with her about having a significant role in Manhattan Transfer,” Johnson said. “She loved John Stith’s book and was genuinely excited about being part of the series.”
Nichols died July 30, 2022, at age 89 in Silver City, New Mexico.
The project was created, produced, co-written and directed by Conway and is being made by Skyrocket Studios in Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Transfer Film Fund.
The story begins after Manhattan is severed from Earth, placed under a dome and taken aboard an alien mothership containing thousands of other domed cities, producers said.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play some pretty memorable characters over the years, but Matt Sheehan is something different,” Majors said. “Manhattan Transfer has a great science-fiction premise, but underneath all of that is a very human story.”
The cast also includes Herbert Jefferson Jr., Jason Faunt and Chalet Brannan.
The pilot is more than one-third complete, according to the producers, who said they plan to offer it to television networks, streaming platforms and distributors after it is finished in about three months.