Fremantle signs writer, director for upcoming miniseries

Director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant have been attached to upcoming Fremantle drama miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

An adaption of Richard Flanagan’s novel on WWII prisoners of the Thailand-Burma railway construction, rights were announced in March 2018. A limited series will be executive produced by Fremantle’s Director of Scripted Jo Porter. The Fremantle production team will also include Chris Oliver Taylor, Amy Noble and Nat Lindwall.

The Booker Prize novel is an achingly powerful insight into the many forms of love; a humanist examination of what links us all, forged through the savagery of war. It a uniquely honest and powerful portrait of a man and the woman he loves.

Shaun Grant received the AACTA award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Snowtown and Justin Kurzel received the AACTA award for best direction for the film. They also collaborated on Stan’s upcoming feature True History of the Kelly Gang which debuted at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Grant’s writing credits also include Berlin Syndrome, Jasper Jones, Penguin Bloom, Mindhunter and while Justin Kurzel credits include the Macbeth and Assassin’s Creed. He is currently in production on Shantaram for Apple.

Fremantle, Australia, CEO, Chris Oliver-Taylor and Fremantle’s Director of Scripted, Jo Porter said: “Richard Flanagan’s novel has been hailed as a masterpiece around the world. It had an immensely powerful impact on readers in Australia and was a bestseller globally. We needed a screenwriter and a director creatively at the top of their game to bring this tragic, heroic and remarkable story to the screen. Justin and Shaun are audacious, bold and share our passion for this project. We are thrilled to announce they will be working with us to realise our ambitions for the series.”

Justin Kurzel said: “I feel extremely honoured to be trusted by Richard Flanagan to bring to life this complete masterpiece of a novel. I am so excited to be collaborating again with Shaun Grant and can’t wait to work with the Fremantle team in creating such an epic and incredibly powerful story.”

Shaun Grant said: “Having read Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North several years ago, and being moved beyond words, I am excited to adapt his sublime novel for the screen. My grandfather was a Prisoner of War, who worked the Thai-Burma railway, hence this project is very dear to my heart.”

Richard Flanagan said: “I am genuinely delighted. Justin Kurzel is rightly considered to be one of the most exciting directors in world cinema today, and Shaun Grant is a marvellous writer of equivalent talent who brings to the project a deep personal connection. It feels very right to me and I have a suspicion that the resulting series may just be astonishing.”