Apple TV’s Tenzing centers Norgay’s Everest ascent

Apple TV’s Tenzing began streaming globally on October 16, 2026, bringing the story of Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay and the 1953 Mount Everest ascent to the screen. Directed by Jennifer Peedom, the feature stars Genden Phuntsok as Norgay, Tom Hiddleston as New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and Willem Dafoe as expedition leader John Hunt. The film portrays Norgay and Hillary reaching the summit together, while placing Norgay’s experience and role at the center of the account. It follows his path from childhood in the Himalayas to the British expedition, where he sought recognition as a climber rather than being treated only as support for foreign mountaineers. The story also depicts his spiritual connection to Chomolungma, the name used for Everest in the film. The feature draws on Ed Douglas’s biography, Tenzing: Hero of Everest. Its narrative includes Norgay’s wife, Dawa Thinley Lhamo, and the expedition’s efforts to include him as a formal climbing-team member. The film also presents the contrasting outlooks of the climbers and the tensions surrounding the expedition’s hierarchy and the work of Sherpa mountaineers. The historical ascent took place on May 29, 1953, when...