| The Future Is Wild | |
|---|---|
 Official logo of The Future Is Wild | |
| Genre | Speculative evolution Nature documentary |
| Created by | Joanna Adams |
| Written by | Victoria Coules |
| Directed by | Pierre de Lespinois |
| Narrated by | Christian Rodska (UK/Europe) Tim White (US, Discovery Channel) |
| Composers | Nicholas Hooper Paul Pritchard |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Joanna Adams Daniela Bagliani Walter Köhler Ruth Omphalius Dawn Sinsel Emanuela Spinetta |
| Producers | Steve Nicholls Paul Reddish Jeremy Cadle Clare Dornan |
| Running time | 20–25 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC, Arte, ZDF, ORF, Mediaset, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel |
| Release | 2 April – 25 June 2002 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Future Is Wild (also referred to by the acronym FIW)[1] is a 2002 speculative evolution docufiction miniseries and an accompanying multimedia entertainment franchise. The Future Is Wild explores the ecosystems and wildlife of three future time periods: 5, 100, and 200 million years in the future, in the format of a nature documentary. Though the settings and animals are fictional, the series has an educational purpose, serving as an informative and entertaining way to explore concepts such as evolution and climate change.
The Future Is Wild was first conceived by independent producer Joanna Adams[a] in 1996 and developed together with various scientists, including Dougal Dixon, best known as the author of the 1981 book After Man, which also explored future wildlife. The 2002 series was an international co-production, involving the British BBC, the Franco-German channel Arte, the German ZDF, the Austrian ORF, the Italian MFE - MediaForEurope (via their Mediaset division), and the American Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. Wildly successful, The Future Is Wild continues to be broadcast to this day and has been shown on TV in more than 60 countries.
The success of The Future Is Wild spawned a large multimedia franchise, including books, children's entertainment, exhibitions, theme park rides, educational material, and toys. There have also been cancelled projects, such as a potential movie adaptation, as well as a sequel series, The Future Is Wild 2. From 2016 onwards, there has been talk of "relaunching" the franchise through various projects, such as an action-adventure TV series and The Future is Wild VR (a virtual reality videogame), though no new media has yet materialized.
- ^ Adams, Joanna (21 March 2016). "How to expand IP beyond TV: 5 lessons from The Future Is Wild". miptrends. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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