Billy Ray pens the script and will direct the pilot for the upcoming TV adaptation of the novel inspired by the life of film producer Irving Thalberg.
- Nov 20, 2013
AceShowbiz - Billy Ray is going to bring "The Last Tycoon" to the small screen. Fresh of his writing stint on the critically-acclaimed film "Captain Phillips ", the screenwriter is now working on a TV adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's posthumous novel for HBO.
The writer, who got an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Screenplay for his work on 2003's movie "Shattered Glass", will write the script, executive produce and direct the pilot should the cable channel move forward with it. "Party of Five" co-creator Chris Keyser is on board as showrunner.
"The Last Tycoon" is Fitzgerald's final and unfinished novel which was published posthumously in 1941. Inspired by the life of film producer Irving Thalberg, it centers on protagonist Monroe Stahr. The story follows Stahr's rise to power in Hollywood and his conflicts with rival Pat Brady, a character based on studio head Louis B. Mayer.
No actor is attached to the project so far. The potential new show is the latest adaptation of the novel, which was previously turned into a 1976 film by Nobel Prize winning playwright Harold Pinter and director Elia Kazan starring Robert De Niro.
