DirectorDerek Cianfrancehas been pretty quiet since his last film,The Light Between Oceans, was dumped due to studio disputes rather than its actual quality (it’s a nice movie, although it pales in comparison to his previous two efforts,The Place Beyond the PinesandBlue Valentine), but thankfully it looks like he’s coming back with a TV series.THRreports that Cianfrance is set to team withMark Ruffalofor an adaptation ofWally Lamb’s novelI Know This Much Is True.
Per THR, “The family saga follows the parallel lives of identical twin brothers in what is described as an epic story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness that is set against the backdrop of 20th century America. Ruffalo will play twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey.”
The limited series has received a straight-to-series order from HBO, which THR points out is trying to compete with other streaming services at the behest of its new corporate owner, AT&T.I Know This Much Is Truejoins other projects that HBO has in the pipeline includingTime Traveler’s Wife, Watchmen, Euphoria, Mrs. Fletcher, Los Espookys,Joss Whedon’sThe Nevers, andThe UndoingstarringNicole Kidman. This is in addition to all of HBO’s other programming, although the network is about to have a giganticGame of Thrones-sized hole in its lineup when the epic fantasy series comes to a conclusion next year.
The question here is whether or not anyone has time for all of this programming. On the one hand, you can argue that this is great for consumers, who have more choice than ever before in what they want to watch. The downside is that they have more choice than ever before. I know personally I’ve got at least three Netflix shows on the backburner right now because other entertainment is vying for my attention, and that’s not to mention that I kind of letSharp Objectsjust slip right past me. I want to say that I’ll definitely watchI Know This Much Is Truewhen it arrives, but that’s just the optimism talking.
