Turner Classic Movies To Screen ‘Forbidden Planet’ On The International Space Station

Turner Classic Movies — TCM to those who adore acronyms — is set to screen director Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on October 13. In addition to those who attend the event on Earth, the film will screen for those individuals who currently call the International Space Station home. According to the New York Times, the screening of the classic science fiction film is part of what officials refer to as “psychological support.”

“We were approached by TCM to see whether we’d be interested in showing a classic movie on the International Space Station,” NASA’s multimedia liaison Bert Ulrich explained. “We said, sure.” He also added that the screening of Forbidden Planet on Earth and on the International Space Station is a fantastic way to get people interested in space exploration.

Other films have been made available to astronauts during their stay in outer space including Star Trek and The Avengers. Movies, officials explain, are instrumental in keeping the space station’s inhabitants psychologically healthy and happy.

According to Wikipedia, Forbidden Planet was originally released into theaters on April 1, 1956. The film — which stars Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Warren Stevens, Leslie Nielsen, and Robby the robot from Lost in Space — was the first motion picture in history to take place entirely on another planet.

Internet Movie Database describes the plot as follows:

“When Adams and his crew are sent to investigate the silence from a planet inhabited by scientists, he finds all but two have died. Dr. Morbius and his daughter Altaira have somehow survived a hideous monster which roams the planet. Unknown to Adams, Morbius has made a discovery, and has no intention of sharing it (or his daughter!) with anyone.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the TCM Classic Film Festival is set to return for its fourth installment next year. The collection of films, which will screen from April 25 to April 28, carries the theme “Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.” Showings will take place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Chinese 6 Theatres, and the Egyptian Theatre.

Earthlings and astronauts, meanwhile, will be able to catch TCM’s screening of Forbidden Planet on October 13 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida and on the International Space Station.