From Oslo to HBO: Gyllenhaal and Villeneuve reteaming for ‘The Son’
From Oslo to HBO: Last month, fans of director Denis Villeneuve were left disappointed when the release of his highly anticipated film adaptation of “Dune” was postponed to October 2021.
If you’re stuck trying to get your sci-fi/villeneuve fix by rewatching “Dune” trailers or “Arrival” (2016), you might want to preemptively pick up Jo Nesbø’s bestselling novel, “The Son”: HBO recently gave a series order for ATV adaptation, with Villeneuve attached as both director and executive producer.
What’s more, Villeneuve is reteaming with his “Prisoners” (2013) star Jake Gyllenhaal to bring the crime story to the small screen. Gyllenhaal is on board as the star of the limited series, which, if it remains faithful to the source material, is a tale of vengeance and corruption set in Oslo, Norway. The story is centered on Sonny Lofthus, an escaped convict on the lam and an opioid addict who can’t recall his past.
Gyllenhaal, who is also teaming up with his “Southpaw” (2015) director Antoine Fuqua for Netflix’s “The Guilty,” will serve as executive producer to the adaptation of “The Son” through his Nine Stories production company. It’s interesting to note that Gyllenhaal and his producing partner, Riva Marker, were the ones who optioned the film rights back in 2016. According to Deadline, Gyllenhaal had been looking for another opportunity to collaborate withvilleneuve and gave him a copy of “The Son”; sources said that Villeneuve read it overnight and was immediately on board.
There was talk of it being a feature film adaptation, but a limited series allows them to cover more of the story. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy of Kilter Films are also on board as executive producers and showrunners alongside Lenore Zion, who will write the series.
“Jonah and Lisa are a formidable creative force, and we are excited to collaborate with them again, alongside the brilliant Lenore, to adapt Jo Nesbø’s novel,” said Francesca Orsi, executive vicepresident of HBO Programming. “Denis is a master at weaving visually exquisite and unique narratives, Jake is a gifted actor and producer whose work often traverses provocative and compelling terrain, and, of course, he and Denis have collaborated brilliantly in the past. We are beyond excited to see how this powerhouse team tackles this exceptional work.”
Walken in: If you look at Christopher Walken’s (“Catch Me If You Can,” 2002) impressive acting resume on IMDB, you’ll notice two things: he’s been consistently employed since the 1970s, and he got his start ontv with a 1953 appearance on “Thewonderful Johnacton” (he was credited as “Ronnie Walken”).
Known for his distinctive and often-parodied delivery, Walken has shown no signs he’s slowing down — his next film project,
“Wild Mountainthyme,” with Jamie Dornan (“Fifty Shades of
Grey,” 2015), Emily Blunt (“A Quiet Place,” 2018) and Jon Hamm
(“Mad Men”), is scheduled to be released next month. And you can add one more project to the everJake Gyllenhaal to star in “The Son” growing list: the 77-year-old Oscar winner has been added to the cast of Appletv+’s upcoming workplace thriller, “Severance.”
This will bewalken’s first regular role on ATV series, and he’ll be joined by quite a few familiar names. In fact,“severance” marks a behind-the-scenes reteaming of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (2013) co-stars Ben Stiller (“Zoolander,” 2001), who is on board as director and executive producer, and “Big Little Lies” star Adam Scott (aka Benwyatt from “Parks and Recreation”), who will produce and star in the series.
Scott will play the role of
Mark, a Lumen Industries employee with a dark past. The thing is, Lumen Industries is taking the idea of a work-life balance to an entirely new level with its “severance procedure” that separates work and out-of-work memories.
Walken will play the role of
Burt, head of optics and design at Lumen Industries, while his “The Jesus Rolls” (2019) director, John Turturro, stars as a longtime, dependable employee. Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy winner Patricia Arquette (“The Set”) will also star as Mark’s boss, while “Man Seeking Woman” actress Britt Lower will play the part of Helly, a woman who struggles after undergoing the severance procedure.