Streaming service Wink and Russian television channel NTV have presented the trailer for Hard to Be a God ahead of the sci-fi show's launch on September 3. The first season of the series consists of eight episodes.
The series will release first on the Wink streaming service before broadcasting on NTV television. The trailer video was posted on Wink's VK channel, with all rights owned by Wink.
Set in the distant future, the storyline follows Earth inhabitants who assist less developed civilizations through challenging evolutionary stages. Anton, an employee of the Institute of History, travels to the medieval world of Arkanar to rescue scientists capable of furthering societal evolution.
Plot details and progressor rules
To carry out his mission, Anton operates undercover as Don Rumata, a wealthy aristocrat who enjoys fights, drinking, and women. Under the rules governing progressors, covert agents must not intervene directly in the natural progression of history, limiting their aid to helping a small number of enlightened figures avoid death.
Anton also has a personal motive that he concealed from his superiors at the institute. His father disappeared without a trace somewhere in Arkanar, prompting Anton's search.
Production crew and starring cast
Dmitry Tyurin, known for directing Trigger, directed the project. Teymur Dzhafarov, producer on Gold Bound, and Andrey Zolotarev, screenwriter for One Hundred Years Ahead, served as showrunners.
Aleksandar Radojicic, known for Balkan Line, stars in a lead role alongside Ravshana Kurkova from I Take a Step, Sergey Bezrukov from Plevako, Nikita Kologrivyy from The Boy's Word, and Viktoriya Isakova from One Hundred Years Ahead.
Hard to Be a God is based on the 1964 science fiction novella by Soviet authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The adaptation marks one of the major genre television releases of the season for Russian streaming.
