History Orders Drama ‘Blue Book’ From A+E Studios

History has given a 10-episode, straight-to-series order to scripted drama Blue Book. Robert Zemeckis is executive producing the project, and A+E Studios is producing.

Blue Book chronicles the top secret Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and ‘60s known as “Project Blue Book.” The series follows Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a college professor recruited by the Air Force to spearhead this operation. Each episode will draw from the actual files.

Blue Book is inspired by the true covert events of an era in American history shrouded in mystery,” said Paul Buccieri, president, A+E Studios and A+E Networks Portfolio Group. “Robert Zemeckis and the creative team have shaped an incredibly compelling narrative, building upon History’s unique, growing brand of fact-based scripted programming.”

Blue Book marks the fourth original scripted series to join the History slate and the third scripted series from A+E Studios. The two parties are also partnering on drama Knightfall, which A+E Studios is producing in association with Jeremy Renner’s and Don Handfield’s production company The Combine and Midnight Radio.

Zemeckis’ work includes the Back to the Future film franchise and Forrest Gump.

“Rarely have I been associated with a project that is a perfect fusion of historical fact and extraordinary entertainment,” said Zemeckis. “We are grateful for A+E Studios’ and History’s support for what I know will be a fabulous series.”

Blue Book is an A+E Studios production in association with Compari Entertainment. Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine are executive producers for Compari Entertainment. David O’Leary is creator and writer. Arturo Interian is the executive in charge of production for History.

(Photo via Vladimir Pustovit's Flickr. Image taken on May 25, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.