SOMETHING ROTTEN!'s Brian d'Arcy James to Star in CBS Adaptation of SUPERIOR DONUTS

SOMETHING ROTTEN! and SPOTLIGHT star Brian d'Arcy James has lined up his next project.

Variety writes that the stage and screen star has joined previously announced Jermaine Fowler in CBS's comedy pilot adaptation of Tracy Letts' 2008 play SUPERIOR DONUTS.

The multi-camera comedy will center on "the relationship between the owner of a donut shop, his new young employee and their patrons in a gentrifying neighborhood of Chicago."

D'Arcy James is set to play 'Arthur', owner of the Superior Donuts store, described as "typically gruff to-the-point Chicagoan and the patriarch to his loyal customers."

Fowler will take on the role of Franco, "the highly energetic new employee at the donut shop, working under the owner, Arthur. As gentrification looms, Franco sees Superior Donuts as a symbol of everything he loves about the neighborhood with its authenticity and realness, so he makes it his mission to drag the shop - and ARTHUR - into the 21st century."

Maz Jobrani has also nabbed a series regular part as 'Maz', described as "a high-energy, over-caffeinated businessman who is living the American dream, as he's been buying up buildings and investing in businesses in the Uptown neighborhood, waiting for gentrification to come and make him rich. He's constantly after ARTHUR to sell him the donut shop so he can control the entire block."

The project will be penned by Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan and Bob Daily, who will executive produce along with Mark Teitelbaum, John Montgomery, Michael Rotenberg and Josh Lieberman. CBS Television Studios will produce. Daily will also serve as showrunner. Fowler is also serving as a co-executive producer.

Steppenwolf's 2009 production of SUPERIOR DONUTS transferred to Broadway's Music Box Theatre in September of that year. The play was written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Tracy Letts. The production, directed by ensemble member Tina Landau, enjoyed a sold-out world premiere in Chicago.

Tony nominee Brian D'Arcy James recently appeared in this year's Academy Award-winning Best Picture SPOTLIGHT and currently stars in Broadway's SOMETHING ROTTEN! The actor has also appeared on the small screen in MOZART IN THE JUNGLE, LAW & ORDER: SVU, SMASH, THE GOOD WIFE, PERSON OF INTEREST, RESCUE ME and more. Among his past Broadway credits are MACBETH, TIME STANDS STILL, NEXT TO NORMAL, SHREK THE MUSICAL, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, TITANIC, CAROUSEL and BLOOD BROTHERS.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride