Showtime Picks Up New Dark Comedy Starring Kirsten Dunst

SHOWTIME has picked up ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, a one-hour series set to debut Sunday, August 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Starring Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Kirsten Dunst (Fargo), the nine-episode series is a darkly comedic story about the cult of free enterprise and one woman's relentless pursuit of the American Dream. In addition to Dunst, the series stars Théodore Pellerin (Genesis), Beth Ditto (Nocturnal Animals), Mel Rodriguez (The Last Man on Earth) and Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs). Created and executive produced by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky and produced by Sony's TriStar Television, the series is also executive produced by Smokehouse Pictures' George Clooney (Catch-22) and Grant Heslov (Catch-22), along with Dunst, Charlie McDowell (The One I Love), who also directed the pilot and Esta Spalding (MASTERS OF SEX), who also serves as showrunner. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine and Jana Winograde, Presidents of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.

Check out a teaser for ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA here:

"We were immediately drawn to this stylish and subversive female empowerment story starring Kirsten Dunst as you've never seen her before," Levine said. "Throw in clever writing, inventive filmmaking, a strong, diverse ensemble and some alligators, and we're confident Showtime audiences will find ON BECOMING A GOD irresistible!"

Set in a small Orlando-adjacent town in 1992, ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA follows Krystal Stubbs (Dunst), a minimum-wage water park employee who lies, schemes and cons her way up the ranks of Founders American Merchandise (FAM) - the cultish, flag-waving, multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme that drove her to ruin in the first place, run by the powerful Obie Garbeau II (Levine). Determined to make a better life for herself, Krystal dives deep into FAM and develops a tangled relationship with FAM's most loyal and fanatical follower Cody (Pellerin), until her business begins to affect those closest to her, including Ernie (Rodriguez), her affable water park boss, and his FAM-skeptic wife Bets (Ditto). Additional casting includes Usman Ally (Veep), Julie Benz (DEXTER), Melissa De Sousa (Ladies of the Law), John Earl Jelks (True Detective), Sharon Lawrence (SHAMELESS), Josh Fadem (Better Call Saul), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Empire), Golden Globe and Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies) and Academy Award® winner Mary Steenburgen (The Last Man on Earth). The series was acquired from YouTube.

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Image courtesy of Showtime