Variety has learned that Sony Pictures Television is developing a project starring Laura Dern about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
The limited series is based on Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown’s book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story, which shined a new spotlight on Epstein and his crimes. Dern will appear in the series as Brown.
The official description for the series describes it as “an explosive chronicle of an investigative reporter exposing the secret plea deal between Epstein and federal prosecutors. Drawing on Brown’s experience as a groundbreaking reporter for the Miami Herald, this book and limited series follows Brown’s years of relentless investigations that identified 80 victims, persuaded key survivors to go on the record, and led to the arrests of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Sharon Hoffman (Mrs. America, House of Cards) will adapt the book and serve as executive producer and co-showrunner along with Eileen Myers (American Hostage, Masters of Sex). In addition to starring, Dern will also serve as executive producer. Adam McKay and Kevin Messick will serve as executive producers through HyperObject Industries, with Brown also serving as executive producer.
If the project does take hold and is turned into a series, which seems very likely, it would be the first scripted series about the Epstein scandal. Multiple documentaries and documentary series have been made about Epstein, who for years ran a high-profile sex trafficking ring involving some of the most powerful and influential people on the planet.
This is the latest series for McKay and Hyperobject to tackle topical subjects. McKay first broke out in comedies like “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights,” but has since gone on to work on movies like “The Big Short,” “Don’t Look Up,” and shows like “Succession.”
Dern is one of the most famous actresses of her generation in both television and film. Dern has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards, including her 2017 win for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for her role in Big Little Lies. Her other nominations have come from her work in projects such as “Palm Royale,” “The Tale,” and “Enlightened.” She has been nominated for three Academy Awards, winning Best Supporting Actress in 2020 for “Marriage Story.” Her other credits include the “Jurassic Park” franchise, 2019’s “Little Women” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Dern is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Cole. Mr. McKay is repped by CAA. Myers is repped by Jackoway Austin Tyerman.
