HBO Orders ‘Lewis And Clark’ Miniseries From Tom Hanks; Casey Affleck To Star
HBO loves itself a good historical miniseries, and the next one to come from the network will beLewis and Clark. The frontier drama has a star-studded lineup both in front of and behind the camera:Tom Hanks,Brad Pitt, andEdward Nortonare executive producers, andCasey AffleckandMatthias Schoenaertswill star.
More on the HBOLewis and Clarkseries after the jump.
HBO announcedLewis and Clarktoday via press release. The six-hour miniseries is based onStephen E. Ambrose’s bookUndaunted Courage, and will chronicle America’s first contact with the land and native people west of the Mississippi River.
Lewis (Affleck) and Clark (Schoenaerts) lead U.S. Army’s Corps of Discovery across uncharted territory in the early 19th century. Their jobs are to figure out just what the U.S. got in the Louisiana Purchase, and to establish U.S. sovereignty over the natives.
In a statement announcing the show, HBO’s president of programmingMichael Lombardosaid:
In ‘Lewis and Clark,’ we can see American idealism and the breathtaking natural beauty of the continent, as well as the complexities and tragedies of what came to be known as America’s ‘manifest destiny.’ We are tremendously excited to bring together this incredible group of talents to tell a seminal American story.
John Curran(The Painted Veil) will direct. He’s also scripting, with Norton andMichelle Ashford(The Pacific).Dede Gardner(of Pitt’s Plan B) andGary Goetzman(of Hanks' Playtone) will additionally serve as executive producers.
Affleck is coming off of a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’sInterstellar. Next up for him are the crime dramaTriple Nine, the disaster picThe Finest Hours, and Kenneth Lonergan’sManchester-by-the-Sea.
Schoenaerts appeared in last year’sThe Dropand can be seen this weekend inThe Loft. This summer he’ll appear inFar From the Madding Crowdwith Casey Mulligan.
Lewis and Clarkhas been in the works at HBO for several years already. According toTHR, Affleck signed on last summer but Schoenaerts is a more recent hire. Production is slated to begin this summer.
