Even though “Harry Potter” is over, J.K. Rowling’s career has never been hotter. She’s been tapped by Warner Bros. to write a series of sorta-prequels to her hit franchise, with a trilogy planned for “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.” And now fresh word has arrived on the status of the adaptation of her (divisive) novel “The Casual Vacancy.” Back in 2012, BBC snapped it up for a TV series and now they’ve got a partner across the pond to help them get it together.
The miniseries will go into production this summer in Southwest England with HBO now on board, and Rowling and Neil Blair’s Bronte Film and Television co-producing for the BBC. The miniseries will be three one-hour episodes tracking the characters of Pagford, a seemingly placid place, with lots of intrigue happening behind closed doors. Here’s the Amazon synopsis:
When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Jonny Campbell will direct Sarah Phelps’ screenplay, but no word yet on the cast. We suppose that news will be coming down the line shortly. [ScreenDaily]
