If you’re a fan of Gimlet Media’sHomecomingpodcast, then you may be excited to see it now headed to the small screen.Mr. RobotcreatorSam Esmailis on board to direct and executive producer the Amazon drama, which has already been given a two-season order (the second season of the podcast just started).Julia Robertsis set to star in the series which is described byTHRas “a psychological and political thriller that centers caseworker at a secret government facility (played by Roberts) and a soldier eager to rejoin civilian life.”
Serialized storytelling via podcasts saw a major resurgence after the popularity ofSerial’s first season, and has led to other great and engrossing audio tales likeS-Town. But while those two podcasts are real-life stories chronicling the lives of the (potentially) misunderstood,Homecomingis a fictional work. It’s a nice touch, then, that its creatorsEli HorowitzandMicah Bloombergwill write the adaptation for Amazon, which should preserve their vision for the storytelling.
As for the visuals, there are few directors as out-of-the-box as Esmail, who (for whatever faultsMr. RobotSeason 2 had) has a distinct visual style that helped initially makeMr. Robotthe hit that it has been (and may be again!)Homecomingis part of Esmail’s overall deal with Universal Cable Productions, which also includes a miniseries based on the seminal sci-fi workMetropolis.
When it comes to Roberts, she is following in the footsteps of many other high-profile actors who are making the move to TV, as better scripts and the call of “prestige TV” have continued to court A-listers away from just movies.
While Amazon continues to find definition among the streaming networks (as it’s currently trying the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach),Homecomingwill join another two-season pickup for aDavid O. Russellmafia drama starringRobert De NiroandJulianne Moore. Other series, like the underratedSneaky Peteand the upcomingThe Tick, have come out of its more democratic pilot program, where viewers can vote on which shows get made.
We’ll let you know more as we hear it, and in the meantime, are you a fan of theHomecomingpodcast? How do you think it will do when translated to TV?
