The iconic novel The Great Gatsby is coming to a TV near you, just in time for the next Roarin’ Twenties. First reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Elizabeth and Vikings writer Michael Hirst is set to write the miniseries in partnership with A+E Studios and ITV Studios America, and will be an executive producer alongside Michael London. Blake Hazard, one of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s great-granddaughters, will also be involved as a representative of the Fitzgerald estate will serve as a consulting producer.
This new adaptation will put a modern twist on the classic novel, set within the 1920s New York Black community. “I have long dreamt of a more diverse, inclusive version of Gatsby that better reflects the America we live in, one that might allow us all to see ourselves in Scott’s wildly romantic text,” says Hazard, who also expressed excitement for working with Hirst on the series. Hirst is no stranger to The Great Gatsby, having read the novel multiple times throughout his life and even teaching it in Oxford for a time. “Today, as America seeks to reinvent itself once again,” Hirst says, “is the perfect moment to look with new eyes at this timeless story, to explore its famous and iconic characters through the modern lens of gender, race, and sexual orientation.” Hirst and Hazard will also be working directly with Farah Jasmine Griffin, a Columbia University William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American Studies.
There is currently no set network for the series to air, as the co-producers plan to shop the series out to streaming services and premium cable.