Netflix and Chernin Entertainment have greenlit a drama series centered on the lives of the highly influential Kennedy family, Variety has learned.
Titled “Kennedy,” the show is based on the Fredrik Logevall’s book “JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956.” Michael Fassbender is attached to star as Kennedy family patriarch Joseph Kennedy Sr. Netflix has commissioned an eight episode first season.
News of the series pickup comes almost two years to the day that Variety exclusively reported that the series was in the works at the streamer. At the time, sources said that Netflix saw the show as an American version of “The Crown” that will chart the Kennedy family’s rise to prominence in American politics across multiple seasons.
The official logline for the series states:
“‘Kennedy’ reveals the intimate lives, loves, rivalries and tragedies that shaped the most iconic dynasty in modern history, and helped create the world we live in today. Beginning in the 1930s, the first season charts the improbable ascent of Joe (Fassbender) and Rose Kennedy and their nine children, including rebellious second son Jack, who struggles to escape the shadow of his golden boy older brother.”
Sam Shaw will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series. Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and Kaitlin Dahill will executive produce for Chernin Entertainment. Eric Roth will also executive produce along with Logevall, Lila Byock, Anya Epstein, Dustin Thomason, Thomas Vinterberg, and Anna O’Malley. Vinterberg will also direct.
This is the second leading TV role Fassbender has taken on in recent years. He also stars in the Paramount+ Premium series “The Agency,” which is currently prepping its second season. Fassbender is primarily known for his film work, having starred in features such as “12 Years a Slave” and “Steve Jobs,” both of which earned him Academy Award nominations, as well as “Inglorious Basters,” “Shame,” “Frank,” and multiple entries in both the “Alien” and “X-Men” franchises.
Shaw is known for creating shows like the critically-acclaimed historical drama “Manhattan” and for co-creating “Castle Rock,” based on the works of Stephen King, with Thomason. His other credits include “Masters of Sex” at Showtime. He is also an accomplished fiction writer and journalist, with his work appearing in publications like Harper’s and This American Life.
Fassbender is repped by Range Media Partners, Conor McCaughan, Sloane Offer, and Tapestry London. Shaw is repped by CAA. Roth is repped by CAA, Lenore Entertainment Group and Jackoway Austen. Thomason is repped by CAA and Jackoway Austen.
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