The Coen brothers, namely, Joel and Ethan Coen, are in talks to write and direct their first-ever TV project "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs." They are partnering with Annapurna Television.
According to Deadline, the Coen brothers wrote the script from an original idea and will produce "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" through their Mike Zoss Productions label. Megan Ellison and Annapurna Television's President of Television, Sue Naegle, will serve as executive producers. Annapurna intends to pursue an innovative television and theatrical integrated approach but did not elaborate.
The plot details of "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" are still unknown, though it will intertwine six different story lines, Variety reported. The Coen brothers are no strangers to the genre, with "True Grit" and "No Country for Old Men" on their resume.
The Coen brothers are the latest of several elite film directors who have made the crossover to television to further develop stories that could not make it to the big screen. David O. Russell is currently working an Amazon series with Julianne Moore and Robert De Niro attached to star. J.J. Abrams is also writing and directing a limited series "The Nix" at Warner Bros. TV starring Meryl Streep, who is currently being shopped.
It is still unclear how theatrical distribution could play a part in the project. However, the intent is to shoot "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" as a miniseries. The scope seemed too challenging to be covered in one feature film.
The idea for "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" is similar to Imagine Entertainment's adaptation of the "The Dark Tower" series. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard from Imagine had planned to do something over both theatrical and television but ended up sticking with one feature film, which Sony will release later this year.
The Coen brothers most recently wrote and directed "Hail, Caesar!" starring Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson, and Alden Ehrenreich. They also penned the script for George Clooney's next directorial effort "Suburbicon." They are repped by UTA.
Watch the video about Coen brothers announcing first TV project "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs":
