Samuel L. Jackson & Neil LaBute to Develop Showtime Drama

According to Variety, Samuel L. Jackson and Neil LaBute are set to develop an as-of-yet unnamed television series together with the Showtime network. 

Jackson will act as the executive producer and LaBute the writer of the project, which reportedly will be about a white supremacist family living in the Pacific Northwest. Jackson does not plan to star in the show, but has not ruled out the possibility of appearing on the series.

The collaboration will be the pair's second; LaBute and Jackson worked together on the film Lakeview Terrace in 2008. 

Samuel L. Jackson got his start being mentored by Morgan Freeman and director Spike Lee. In 1991, after gaining critical acclaim for his role in Jungle Fever, he appeared in films such as Goodfellas, Patriot Games, Amos & Andrew, True Romance and Jurassic Park. In 1994 he famously played Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction. Jackson has since appeared in over 100 films including Die Hard with a Vengeance, The 51st State, Jackie Brown, Unbreakable, The Incredibles, Black Snake Moan, Snakes on a Plane, as well as the Star Wars prequel trilogy and small roles in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Inglourious Basterds. On Broadway, Jackson was an original cast member of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. Jackson appears as Nick Fury in Iron Man 2, set to be released this Friday. 

Neil LaBute received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at The Royal Court Theatre. His films include: IN THE COMPANY OF MEN (New York Critics' Circle Award for Best First Feature, Filmmakers' Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, NURSE BETTY, POSSESSION, THE SHAPE OF THINGS (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), THE WICKER MAN and LAKEVIEW TERRACE. He just finished filming DEATH AT A FUNERAL, a remake of a 2007 British film of the same name, written by and starring Chris Rock. Plays include: BASH: LATTER-DAY PLAYS, written by LaBute and staged in New York in 1999 and London in 2000, both directed by Joe Mantello; THE SHAPE OF THINGS which LaBute wrote and directed for London and New York in 2001; THE DISTANCE FROM HERE, written by LaBute, which ran at the Almeida Theater in London in spring 2002 (directed by David Leveaux) and in New York in spring 2004 (directed by Michael Greif); and THE MERCY SEAT, written and directed by LaBute in New York in fall 2002. In spring 2004, the MCC Theater performed five of his one-act plays, collectively titled AUTOBAHN. MCC staged LaBute's play FAT PIG, directed by Jo Bonney, in fall 2004. In spring 2005, his play THIS IS HOW IT GOES premiered at New York's Public Theater, directed by George C. Wolfe. In May of that year, the play debuted at The Donmar Warehouse in London, directed by Moises Kauffman. Also in May 2005, LaBute's play SOME GIRL(S) premiered on London's West End, directed by David Grindley. In November 2005, he directed the premiere of his one-man, one-act play WRECKS in Cork, Ireland. In May 2006, SOME GIRL(S) had its New York debut at the Lucille Lortel, staged by MCC Theater and directed by Jo Bonney. In October 2006, LaBute once again directed WRECKS, this time for the New York premiere at The Public Theater. In May of 2007, MCC premiered IN A DARK DARK HOUSE, directed by Carolyn Cantor. REASONS TO BE PRETTY premiered in 2008 in a production by MCC Theater, directed by Terry Kinney. The play later became LaBute's first ever Broadway production in April 2009. The play was nominated for three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Play. LaBute is the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, and Playboy among others. A collection of his short stories was published by Grove/Atlantic in October 2004.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski

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