Is ‘Genius’ Canceled Or Renewed For Season 2?

National Geographic’s first-ever scripted series, “Genius,” has yet to make its world premiere next week, but the network has already renewed the show for a second season.

According to Deadline, National Geographic announced the show’s Season 2 renewal at the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on Wednesday evening. The network said that the subject for the anthology series’ Season 2 will be revealed during the show’s Season 1 finale on June 20.

“We are thrilled to bring back Genius for a second season and establish National Geographic’s presence in scripted television,” said National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe. “The ‘Genius’ franchise has proved to be the epitome of the premium, smart and highly entertaining content that our brand embodies and our audience craves.”

READ: Interesting things to know about Albert Einstein on his 62nd death anniversary

The show’s freshman run focuses on Albert Einstein’s (both played by Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn) scientific achievements and complicated personal relationships. In a recent interview with The Independent, executive producer Ron Howard explained why Einstein’s life makes a good drama.

“Einstein was a pioneer,” said Howard. “One of the definitions of genius is an individual prepared to ask difficult questions and go against convention. In art or science, those who discover something new are geniuses. But there is a personal price that these people pay. … That fascinates me. I find it dramatic and emotional to think about the sacrifices they make to explore the frontiers of the unknown.”

Both Rush and Flynn are also amazed by the kind of life Einstein led.

“Einstein was the most astonishing, admirable person,” said Rush who plays the physicist in his older years on the series. “Given the way the world was during his time, I feel that he is a rarity. He’s a hero in a story about science. There aren’t many role models around at the moment who have that kind of empathy, compassion and curiosity. He was living and thinking outside the current orthodoxies. Before celebrities were even called celebrities, he became world-famous for something nobody understood!”

“I realized that he was this really extraordinary, kind of reactionary, kind of sexy, rakish young guy, very dynamic and resistant to all the inherited knowledge that [was] passed on and he grew up with,” Flynn, who portrays the scientist as a young man on the series, told Harper’s Bazaar. “[He] challenged everything. And I just thought that was a cool story to be telling right now.”

“Genius” premieres on Tuesday, April 25 on Nat Geo.