HBO has given a series order to THE SON, it was announced today by Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. The limited series will star and be executive produced by Nine Stories' Jake Gyllenhaal. Denis Villeneuve will direct and executive produce; writer Lenore Zion to showrun and executive produce with Kilter Films' Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Nine Stories' Riva Marker and Kilter Films' Athena Wickham will also executive produce.
The series is based on "The Son," from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jo Nesbø, which is described as a tale of vengeance set amid Oslo's brutal hierarchy of corruption.
"Jonah and Lisa are a formidable creative force and we are excited to collaborate with them again, alongside the brilliant Lenore, to adapt Jo Nesbø's novel," said Orsi. "Denis is a master at weaving visually exquisite and unique narratives, Jake is a gifted actor and producer whose work often traverses provocative and compelling terrain, and of course, he and Denis have collaborated brilliantly in the past. We are beyond excited to see how this powerhouse team tackles this exceptional work."
Bold Films' David Litvak, Gary Michael Walters, Michel Litvak and Svetlana Metkina also serve as executive producers with Jo Nesbø and Niclas Salomonsson. Nine Stories Productions, Kilter Films and Bold Films will produce in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Jake Gyllenhaal is an Academy Award and Tony nominated actor, as well as a producer of note with his company Nine Stories. Alongside Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, Gyllenhaal starred in Sony Pictures highest grossing film of all time, Jon Watt's' "Spider-Man: Far From Home;" Ang Lee's classic "Brokeback Mountain," for which he received an Oscar® nomination and won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor; Dan Gilroy's "Nightcrawler," for which he received Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG and Independent Spirit Award nominations; Bong Joon Ho's "Okja;" David Ayer's "End of Watch;" Antoine Fuqua's "Southpaw;" Denis Villeneuve's "Prisoners" and "Enemy;" Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko;" David Fincher's "Zodiac;" Sam Mendes' "Jarhead;" Nicole Holofcener's "Lovely and Amazing;" Ed Zwick's "Love and Other Drugs," for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, and Tom Ford's "Nocturnal Animals," for which he earned a BAFTA nomination. His stage work on Broadway includes the Tony nominated "Sea Wall / A Life" (Tony nomination Best Actor, Drama League Award); Sunday in the Park with George; Constellations (Drama Desk Award); Little Shop of Horrors. Off-Broadway includes If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet; and on the West End, This is Our Youth (Evening Standard Award). This fall Gyllenhaal will re-team with director Antoine Fuqua and star in "The Guilty" for Netflix, which Nine Stories will also produce.
Through Nine Stories, Gyllenhaal is currently producing "The Guilty" for
Netflix to be directed by Antoine Fuqua and will begin filming mid-November in Los Angeles. "Snow Blind" to be directed by Gustav Möller at Apple+, Janicza Bravo's adaptation about writer Dan Mallory for Annapurna, among others. Most recently, Nine Stories produced Antonio Campos' "The Devil All The Time" for
Netflix starring Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Mia Wasikowska, and Robert Pattinson, and Reinaldo Marcus Green's "Good Joe Bell" starring Mark Wahlberg, Connie Britton, and Gary Sinise. Nine Stories has produced Paul Dano's "Wildlife;" David Gordon Green's "Stronger;" and executive produced the documentary "Hondros." Gyllenhaal also produced "End of Watch" and "Nightcrawler," the latter of which earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. For the stage, Nine Stories produced the Broadway revival of "Sunday in the Park with George", "Sea Wall / A Life" (Four Tony nominations including Best Play and Best Actor for Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge), David Cale's "We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time", and the Broadway debut of Jeremy O Harris' groundbreaking Tony-nominated "Slave Play" (12 nominations). Both "Slave Play" and "Sea Wall / A Life" received 16 Tony nominations combined for the 2020 Broadway season - both received nods for Best Play.
Denis Villeneuve is an Academy Award® and BAFTA nominated French Canadian filmmaker best known for having directed "Blade Runner 2049," "Arrival," "Sicario," "Prisoners" and "Incendies." Villeneuve is gearing up for the release of his highly anticipated film adaptation of Frank Herbert's
Science fiction novel "Dune," which will be released by Warner Bros. on October 1, 2021. The film stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.
