Netflix is adding two adaptations of prestigious literary works to its series roster.
The streamer has ordered a limited series based on Edith Wharton’s classic novel The Age of Innocence and a drama based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s best-selling short story collection Unaccustomed Earth. Additionally, Netflix has renewed its series Sweet Magnolias, based on books by Sherryl Woods, for a fifth season.
Netflix made the announcements in conjunction with Wednesday’s World Book Day. The two new series come as the streamer is also in production on another adaptation of a literary classic, John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, which stars Florence Pugh.
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“At Netflix, we love when stories transcend the page and light up the screen, allowing fans to experience beloved stories in new and exciting ways,” said Jinny Howe, vp drama at the streamer. “The impact of these adaptations can be so powerful that itnot only captivates new audiences around the world, it also causes a resurgence in popularity for the original source material, with many books returning to bestseller lists many years after their initial release.”
The Age of Innocence is from writer and showrunner Emma Frost (The White Queen, The Spanish Princess), who will pen every episode of the series. The show will follow the story of Wharton’s 1920 novel, which centers on a love triangle between the wealthy Newland Archer, his bride-to-be May Welland and May’s cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska. The series will “explore themes of freedom, duty, identity and love in all its forms,” Netflix says. “This fresh take is true to Wharton’s novel but will speak to a new generation as we traverse the ballrooms and bedrooms of these young people, asking the question what is love — and what is lust? And should we ultimately be driven by our heads or by our hearts?”
The Age of Innocence has been adapted several times for both stage productions and feature films, most recently as a 1993 Martin Scorsese movie that starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder.
The show comes from the North Road Company’s Chernin Entertainment (Netflix’s Back in Action and The Madness). Frost will executive produce with Chernin Entertainment’s Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and Tracey Cook.
Frost is repped by UTA, Curtis Brown and attorney Alex Kohner.
Unaccustomed Earth is set in the tight-knit Indian American community in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Per Netflix’s description, the drama will follow what happens “when a star-crossed romance between a devoted wife and her long-lost love comes to light, a scandalous affair is born and new battle lines are drawn in this intensely inter-connected immigrant community.”
Warner Bros. Television is producing Unaccustomed Earth. John Wells (The Pitt, Shameless), who has an overall deal at WBTV, is the showrunner and will write along with Madhuri Shekar (3 Body Problem). Nisha Ganatra (Freakier Friday, Late Night), who optioned Lahiri’s book and developed the series, is set to direct the first episode. Wells, Shakar and Ganatra executive produce with Lahiri, Erica Saleh, Erin Jontow and Celia Costas.
Shekar is repped by IAG, Redefine Entertainment and Jackoway Austen. Lahiri is repped by WME. Ganatra is with CAA and Yorn Levine.
As for Sweet Magnolias, the renewal comes comes two months after the show’s fourth season debuted on Netflix. Sheryl J. Anderson will continue as showrunner, executive producing with Dan Paulson (whose Daniel J. Paulson Productions produces the series) and Matt Drake. Norman Buckley is co-EP.
