Vikings Creator Making A Great Gatsby TV Show

Now that Vikings has come to a conclusion, with the final season premiering on Amazon Prime Video, the show's creator has found his next project. Michael Hirst is adapting The Great Gatsby as a miniseries.

The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says the estate of author F. Scott Fitzgerald is involved in the project. Hirst is set to write and executive produce the miniseries, with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's granddaughter, Blake Hazard, serving as a consulting producer.

Interestingly enough, Hirst--who also created the series The Tudors--has a long history with the novel. In a statement, he said, "I seem to have lived with Gatsby most of my life, reading it first as a schoolboy, later teaching it at Oxford in the 1970s, then re-reading it periodically ever since."

He continued, "As the critic Lionel Trilling once wrote: 'The Great Gatsby is still as fresh as when it first appeared, it has even gained in weight and relevance.' Today, as America seeks to reinvent itself once again, is the perfect moment to look with new eyes at this timeless story, to explore its famous and iconic characters through the modern lens of gender, race, and sexual orientation. Fitzgerald's profoundly romantic vision does not prevent him examining and exposing the darker underbelly of the American experience, which is why the story speaks to both tragedy and hope, and why it continues to resonate today."

Hazard, as well, is excited for a more modern take on the classic story. "I have long dreamt of a more diverse, inclusive version of Gatsby that better reflects the America we live in, one that might allow us all to see ourselves in Scott's wildly romantic text," she said in a statement. "Michael brings a deep reverence for Scott's work to the project, but also a fearlessness about bringing such an iconic story to life in an accessible and fresh way. I'm delighted to be a part of the project."

According to THR, A+E Studios, who is producing the series, has had the rights to the acclaimed novel since making a 2000 TV movie starring Paul Rudd as Nick Carraway, Mira Sorvino as Daisy Buchanan, and Toby Stephens as the titular Jay Gatsby. Thus far, a network or streaming service has not signed on to air the project.

Image credit: Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez/Staff