Falling Skies tells the story of the aftermath of an alien invasion that not only neutralizes the world's power grid and technology, but also destroys the combined militaries of all the world's countries in a short amount of time. It is alluded that over 90% of the human population is killed within a few days. The story picks up six months after the invasion, and follows a group of survivors who must band together in order to fight back. The group, known as the Second Massachusetts (an allusion to a Boston militia in the American Revolutionary War), is now led by the retired Captain Weaver and Boston University history professor Tom Mason who, while in search of his son Ben, must put his extensive knowledge of military history into practice as one of the leaders of the resistance movement.
FALLING SKIES is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, along with DreamWorks Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, Graham Yost (Justified, The Pacific) and screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his screenplay for Saving Private Ryan, wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica) and Greg Beeman (Heroes, Smallville) are co-executive producers. The pilot was directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move, Out of Time).
