Will Smith to Travel From South Pole to North Pole

Variety.com: National Geographic is sending Will Smith to both ends of the Earth. The programmer announced Monday that it has ordered the non-fiction series “Pole to Pole,” which follows Smith on a journey from the South Pole to the North Pole.

“Pole to Pole” is part of an extensive slate of new content that Nat Geo is bringing to Disney Plus, which it revealed during its portion of the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

“Pole to Pole” will mark Smith’s third project with National Geographic after “Welcome to Earth” and “One Strange Rock.” The series covers an expansive journey spanning different biomes, communities and landscapes across the Earth. “Pole to Pole” is executive produced by Smith under his Westbrook banner, alongside Miguel Melendez and Terence Carter. For Nutopia, Jane Root and Peter Lovering are executive producers. For Protozoa, Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel are executive producers.

“At National Geographic, our strategy is to tell bold, best-in-class stories that ignite curiosity and inspire people to explore and care about our world,” said Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Content, in a statement. “With premium, creatively ambitious shows from the very best storytellers in the world, we are bringing awe and wonder to the lives of global Disney+ subscribers with wildly entertaining National Geographic documentary series, feature documentary films, epic natural history and fact-based scripted drama.”

Other productions announced on Monday include “Great Migrations,” a look at organisms’ migrations from Plimsoll Productions; “Home,” a portrait of life on Earth from BBC Studios Natural History Unit; “Secrets of the Elephants” and “Secrets of the Octopus,” two James Cameron executive produced series; “Sentient,” from Darren Aronofsky and Wildstar Films; “Super/Natural,” a Benedict Cumberbatch-narrated series from James Cameron and Plimsoll Productions; “The Biggest Little Farm Series,” a documentary series about a biodiverse farm; “Beyond Belief With David Blaine,” which follows the magician on global travels in a series form Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries; “Epic Adventures of Bertie Gregory,” from filmmaker Bertie Gregory; and “Photographer,” which has E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin documenting one of the world’s greatest photographers.