“Elizabeth” writer and “Vikings” creator Michael Hirst is spearheading a big-budget limited series reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” for A+E Studios and ITV.
The Fitzgerald estate is also involved in the project, but no network or streamer has yet been attached. Producers plan on shopping the series to premium cable and streaming outlets.
Hirst will pen the script and executive produce the closed-ended series alongside Michael London (“Sideways,” Milk”). This version has been in the works for at least three years.
This version will explore New York’s Black community in the 1920s as well as the musical subculture and an enhanced exploration of the female characters. It will sport not just Fizgerald’s estate’s input but at least one notable professor in comparative literature and African-American studies will consult. All will work with Hirst to try and fully capture Fitzgerald’s vision.
A+E Studios has reportedly had TV rights to the work for decades after a previous telemovie adaptation co-produced with the BBC in 2000 starring Toby Stephens as Jay Gatsby, Mira Sorvino as Daisy and Paul Rudd as Nick Carraway.
Multiple adaptations have been made over the years, most notably the Redford/Farrow/Waterston version in 1974 and the DiCaprio/Mulligan/Maguire version made by Baz Luhrmann in 2013. Also famously, not a single one has ever been well received – the highest scoring just 48% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Source: The Live Feed
