Development Of Todd Field’s ‘Purity’ Series Starring Daniel Craig Has Been Halted At Showtime

We’ve been waiting for a new Todd Field feature, TV show, short film, or, hell, even a one-man show on the side of the street for about a decade now. The filmmaker’s last work was 2006’s “Little Children,” which went on to be nominated for about a million awards, including three Oscars. Before that, Field had 2001’s “In the Bedroom,” which again, was nominated for a ton of awards, with five more Oscar noms. And we thought we’re getting more Todd Field goodness soon with his TV series “Purity,” but alas, that seems to not be the case any longer.

While it’s been rumored, we now have confirmation that development of “Purity” has been halted at Showtime, via an interview that writer Jonathan Franzen gave to the New York Times. For those that don’t know, “Purity” was set to be a TV adaptation of the best-selling Franzen novel starring none other than Daniel Craig and co-written, directed, and showrun by Field.

However, in the feature on Franzen, it is revealed that the author received a call from Todd Field saying that preproduction has been halted. Then, as the NYT piece says, “The phone rang again, and again [Franzen] stood up to take the call. It was Daniel Craig, who had been tentatively cast to star in the show. He was being summoned to do another James Bond movie and couldn’t wait for ‘Purity.’” I guess we can blame 007 for killing this dream project.

And with that goes our hope for a new Todd Field project anytime soon. It was said that Field had spent a long amount of time writing “30 percent of 20 hours’ worth of ‘Purity’ scripts.” As mentioned above, he would also direct and act as showrunner of the series, which would have obviously been incredible.

Now, we wait for the next announcement coming from Field. We hope it’s not another decade from now. Until then, excuse me while I watch “Twister” (one of Field’s finest acting jobs) for the millionth time and wait patiently for news of his return.