“The Iron Claw” and “Deep Cuts” director Sean Durkin is looking to reunite with A24 on a series adaptation of the Chad Harbach novel “The Art of Fielding” and the follow-up “The Brightness.” The acclaimed filmmaker is going to be showrunning the project and directing episodes on top of that.
That’s not it, as the project’s reveal from The Hollywood Reporter adds that Beau Willimon, the creator of “House of Cards,” writer on the upcoming “Game of Thrones” movie, and Lucasfilm’s acclaimed “Star Wars” series “Andor,” is also executive producing with Durkin, Harbach, and Willimon’s Westward (behind ‘House of Cards” and Apple‘s genre-bending “Severance“) co-founder Jordan Tappis. Quite the impressive grouping of creatives, we have to admit.
The Harbach books are about the students at the fictional Westish College; the first story focuses on the school’s baseball team, while the second one is about “a band of artistic young women, some of whom pull a feminist prank that becomes a flashpoint in the nation’s culture wars.”
Here is the official synopsis of “The Art of Fielding” from Amazon:
At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended. Henry’s fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry’s gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners’ team captain and Henry’s best friend, realizes he has guided Henry’s career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert’s daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths.
This isn’t the only upcoming TV project for Durkin; he’s also working with A24 on the series “Seven Sisters,” which, according to an update report from Nexus Point News, is set to finally begin production next month after some extended development (Durkin seemingly was busy with “Deep Cuts”). That one has Elizabeth Olsen (“WandaVision”) and Cristin Milioti (“The Penguin”) in lead roles alongside Anthony Edwards, J. Smith-Cameron, Meredith Hagner, Odessa Young, Zoë Winters, Philip Ettinger, Ryan Eggold, and more.
Other series from A24 in the past include “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “Beef,” “Euphoria,” “John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch,” and Peacock‘s hit “Friday the 13th” prequel, “Crystal Lake” (assumed to get a Season 2 renewal given the solid viewership numbers).
