The Good Lord Bird (miniseries)

The Good Lord Bird is an upcoming American drama miniseries, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by James McBride. The series was created and executive produced by Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard. Produced by Jason Blum, with Blumhouse Productions, it is set to premiere October 4, 2020 on Showtime.[2]

The Good Lord Bird
Genre	Drama
Created by	Ethan Hawke Mark Richard
Based on	The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Starring	Ethan Hawke Daveed Diggs Wyatt Russell Joshua Caleb Johnson McKinley Belcher III Rafael Casal
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jason Blum Ethan Hawke Mark Richard Albert Hughes Jeremy Gold Marci Wiseman James McBride[1] Brian Taylor Ryan Hawke David Schiff
Production location(s)	Richmond, Virginia
Production company(s)	Blumhouse Television
Distributor	Showtime Networks
Release
Original network	Showtime

Premise

The series is told from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy, who is part of John Brown's (Ethan Hawke) motley crew of abolitionist soldiers during the time of Bleeding Kansas, eventually participating in the famous 1859 raid on the Army depot at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Brown's raid failed to initiate the slave revolt he intended, but was the instigating event that started the American Civil War.[3]

— Blumhouse Productions

Cast

• Ethan Hawke as John Brown[4]
• Daveed Diggs as Frederick Douglass
• Wyatt Russell as First Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart
• Joshua Caleb Johnson as Onion
• McKinley Belcher III as Broadnax
• Rafael Casal as Cook

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by [5]	Written by [6]	Original release date [2]
1	TBA	Albert Hughes	Teleplay by : Mark Richard & Ethan Hawke	October 4, 2020 (2020-10-04)
2	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Mark Richard & Ethan Hawke	October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)
3	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Mark Richard	October 18, 2020 (2020-10-18)
4	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Erika L. Johnson & Jeff Augustin	October 25, 2020 (2020-10-25)
5	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Mark Richard & Kristen SaBerre	November 1, 2020 (2020-11-01)
6	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Mark Richard & Lauren Signorino	November 8, 2020 (2020-11-08)
7	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Mark Richard & Erika L. Johnson	November 15, 2020 (2020-11-15)
8	TBA	TBA	Teleplay by : Mark Richard & Ethan Hawke	November 22, 2020 (2020-11-22)

Production

Development

Ethan Hawke and Jason Blum are adapting the novel, The Good Lord Bird, for a limited series that is set to premiere October 4, 2020 on Showtime. The series was created and executive produced by Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard. Jason Blum, via Blumhouse Productions, will serve as a production partner on the miniseries.[7][8] Albert Hughes, Kevin Hooks, Darnell Martin and Haifaa al-Mansour will each direct an episode.[5]

Casting

In August 2019, Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell signed on to portray Frederick Douglass and First Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart, respectively.[9][10][11] In July 2019, Joshua Caleb Johnson and Rafael Casal joined the cast as Onion and Cook, respectively.[12]

Filming

In July 2019, filming began in Richmond, Virginia.[13][14]

References

1. Thorne, Will (March 11, 2019). "Ethan Hawke to Star in Showtime Limited Series 'Good Lord Bird'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
2. White, Peter (June 24, 2020). "Showtime Pushes Back Abolitionist Miniseries 'The Good Lord Bird', Picks Up British Drama 'We Hunt Together' To Fill Slot". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
3. D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 13, 2020). "Ethan Hawke On Playing The Complexities In Showtime's 'The Good Lord Bird'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
4. Franklin, Garth (August 3, 2019). "Diggs, Russell Join Hawke's "Good Lord Bird"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
5. Petski, Denise (August 2, 2019). "Daveed Diggs & Wyatt Russell Join 'The Good Lord Bird' For Showtime - TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
6. "The Good Lord Bird". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
7. Lang, Brent (June 11, 2018). "Ethan Hawke, Jason Blum Adapting 'The Good Lord Bird' for TV". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
8. "Academy Award(R) Nominee Ethan Hawke to Executive Produce and Star in Showtime(R) Limited Series "Good Lord Bird"". The Futon Critic. March 11, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
9. "Showtime Taps Tony Winner Daveed Diggs and Wyatt Russell in "The Good Lord Bird"". The Futon Critic. August 2, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
10. Sippell, Margeaux (August 2, 2019). "Daveed Diggs to Play Frederick Douglass in Ethan Hawke's Showtime Limited Series 'The Good Lord Bird'". TheWrap. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
11. Bell, Breanna (August 2, 2019). "TV News Roundup: Daveed Diggs, Wyatt Russell Join Ethan Hawke Showtime Series". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
12. Petski, Denise (November 8, 2019). "'The Good Lord Bird': Rafael Casal To Recur In Showtime Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
13. Evans, Chris (September 17, 2019). "Showtime's 'The Good Lord Bird' Filming in Virginia". KFTV-DT. Univision Communications. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
14. Curran, Colleen (September 11, 2019). "On set of 'The Good Lord Bird' with Virginia showrunner Mark Richard and Ethan Hawke". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved December 3, 2019.

External links

• The Good Lord Bird on IMDb