Ava DuVernay’s latest TV project will see her expanding her relationship with DC Comics. Already tapped to helm the feature adaptation of DC’s “The New Gods” for Warner Bros., the prolific writer-director-producer is now bringing a series based on DC’s “DMZ” comics to HBO Max. WarnerMedia’s forthcoming streamer has given the show a pilot order, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
The project hails from DuVernay’s Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. TV. DuVernay has an overall deal with the latter.
Set in the not-so-distant future, “DMZ” is the story of an American civil war. “The island of Manhattan has become a demilitarized zone separating the two sides, largely destroyed and isolated from the rest of the world,” the source teases. “The series will follow a fierce female medic who saves lives while desperately searching for her lost son. As she contends with the gangs, militias, demagogues, and warlords who now control the lawless island, she becomes the unlikely source of what everyone there has lost: hope.”
DuVernay is exec producing and will direct the pilot, which is expected to begin filming in early 2020. Roberto Patino (“Westworld”) is writing and exec producing.
“When They See Us,” the Exonerated Five miniseries DuVernay created and directed, recently won best casting and best lead actor in a limited series (Jharrel Jerome) at the Emmys. Her OWN family drama, “Queen Sugar,” was renewed for a fifth season and her new show, romance anthology “Cherish the Day,” will premiere on the cabler early next year.
DuVernay’s features include “A Wrinkle in Time,” “13th,” and “Selma.” She became the first woman of color to direct a $100 million-plus film on the former.
Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira’s “Americanah” limited series, an adaptation of Madeline Miller’s “Circe,” and a “Practical Magic” prequel, are among HBO Max’s many planned projects.
