Another major film director is prepping a TV series, and it seems the lure of television has spread internationally. South Korean director Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden, Oldboy) will direct an adaptation of John Le Carre‘s The Little Drummer Girl, set to air first on American network AMC.
The director has signed on to helm all six episodes of the miniseries, and Lady Macbeth breakout star Florence Pugh has been cast in the lead. The source material is one of Le Carre’s lesser known works, though it was originally adapted decades ago by George Roy Hill with Diane Keaton in the lead role.
The book synopsis is as follows:
“On holiday in Mykonos, Charlie wants only sunny days and a brief escape from England’s bourgeois dreariness. Then a handsome stranger lures the aspiring actress away from her pals – but his intentions are far from romantic.
Joseph is an Israeli intelligence officer, and Charlie has been wooed to flush out the leader of a Palestinian terrorist group responsible for a string of deadly bombings. Still uncertain of her own allegiances, she debuts in the role of a lifetime as a double agent in the ‘theatre of the real'”.
Chan-wook adapting a story that revolves around mystery and conspiracy conjures up so many intriguing possibilities, and fans will be forgiven for picturing an espionage version of Oldboy as the perfect outcome.
Those are all the details available right now, though it’s easy to assume a late 2018/early 2019 release date being lined up.
While the (temporary?) migration from film to TV by all these auteurs might worry some fans of film, there’s little to worry about when exciting projects matched up with great filmmakers like this come along.
#Peace.Love.ParkChanWook
