It seems we’re not quite ready to let go of our near-future dystopian society-set television show obsession – or at least, that’s what Media Rights Capital is hoping, as it rolls the dice on its next project. The independent studio that has been enjoying great success with their Netflix series, House Of Cards, is in late development with Super Sad True Love Story – an episodic adaptation of Gary Shteyngart’s award-winning third novel.
The tale – set in a near-future, dystopian New York – follows the complex relationship between Lenny Abramov and Eunice Park. Lenny is a middle-class, middle-management kind of guy, whose perspective has not progressed at the same pace as society. Eunice is a young Korean-American woman struggling with the disparity between the materialism encouraged by society and the more conservative expectations of her traditional Korean family. The story is structured in alternating perspectives between the two characters, as America faces economic collapse with threats from Chinese creditors.
The show is co-created and co-written by author Shteyngart and Karl Gajdusek (Dead Like Me), with Ben Stiller attached as executive producer and director of multiple episodes. Casting is now in progress, and it will be interesting to see who may end up in the two lead roles. Names currently being suggested by the media rumour-mill include Friends alum David Schwimmer – although he recently signed on to 10 episodes of American Crime Story to play Robert Kardashian, in the re-telling of the O.J Simpson trial.
The question of whether an audience will flock to yet another dystopian television tale is highly dependent on the casting choices, however, and at least one of the leads – if not both – will need to be a recognizable name. As was the case with Media Rights Capital’s House Of Cards, Super Sad True Love Story will likely head straight to series before it finds a broadcast home, so we should expect announcements of onscreen talent involvement relatively soon.