200,000 people applied for the opportunity to receive a one-way ticket to the red planet with the Mars One organization, which intends to colonize Mars starting in 2023. Thus far, 1,058 hopefuls made the first cut, with the eventual final tally said to be 40 individuals. How do they intend to weed through competitors to reach that final number?

“We’re in advanced negotiations with a major studio for an overall deal for film and television properties,” said Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp.

That’s right, a reality show. Earth’s first living gift to Mars will come in the form of 40 successful reality television show competitors.

“We fully anticipate our remaining candidates to become celebrities in their towns, cities, and in many cases, countries,” said Lansdorp. “It’s about to get very interesting.”

Chief Medical Officer of Mars One, Dr Norbert Kraft, said the next selection phases this year and in 2015 will include “rigorous simulations, many in team settings, with focus on testing the physical and emotional capabilities of our remaining candidates.”

The successful applicants are from all over the globe, with the United States the most represented with 297 candidates. A little over half of the applicants are male, and most of them are on the young side: 357 are under 25 and 415 are under 35, while just 26 are over 56. The oldest person to make it to the next round is 81.

Lansdorp said that finding individuals who took the mission seriously was difficult, noting that many applicants filmed themselves nude in their audition videos. He didn’t say exactly what constitutes “seriousness” in the context of living the rest of one’s natural life on an inhospitable alien planet.

As reported in late 2013, Mars One first intends to send a robot lander and accompanying satellite in 2018. Powered by Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the lander and satellite will act as a precursor to the manned missions planned for 2023.

Of course, at this point all of this amounts to hopeful daydreaming for Mars One. They estimate they’ll need over $6BN to make the project technically feasible, and they’re nowhere close. Though they have a crowdfunding system in place and sell merchandise on their website, they’ll have to move an awful lot of coffee mugs if they hope to get off the ground. A successful reality show may help, but not even The Jersey Shore pulled in that kind of money.