Michael Kovac/Getty Images
Lorre
The series, which is in development, hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Lorre is under a rich overall deal.
Chuck Lorre is joining the reboot craze.
The prolific producer behind CBS' The Big Bang Theory and Mom is teaming with Amazon to develop an event series based on Bonfire of the Vanities, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Sources say the project, which hails from Warner Bros. TV where Lorre is under a rich overall deal, is being eyed as an eight-episode series, though it is currently only in development. The drama, which has been in the works for months, was initially shopped to cable and streaming outlets.
Margaret Nagle (Boardwalk Empire, Red Band Society) is set to pen the script and exec produce alongside Lorre. Author and political reporter David Corn will serve as a consultant. Amazon Studios, WBTV and Chuck Lorre Productions are the producers on it.
Like Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel, the potential series is described as a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics and greed in 1980s New York City. The tale is told through three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish assistant district attorney Larry Kramer and British journalist Peter Fallow.
Bonfire of the Vanities was originally released in 27 different installments in Rolling Stone and went on to become one of the best-sellers and most acclaimed works of Wolfe's storied career.
This isn't the first stab at adapting the book. Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith starred in the 1990 film of the same name, which was widely panned and earned just less than $16 million at the box office.
This project marks Lorre's first foray into miniseries — a field that has become increasingly popular in recent years as the prospect of a limited number of episodes continues to draw name talent (and producers) to the small screen.
With the exception of a 2008 episode of CSI he penned, this would also be Lorre's first dramatic project after decades of success on sitcoms including Roseanne, Cybill, Dharma & Greg and the recently departed Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly. He currently has three shows in the works: CBS' The Big Bang Theory and Mom as well as Netflix's straight-to-series pot comedy Disjointed, starring Kathy Bates. Bonfire gives Lorre projects at two competing streaming outlets. He is repped by UTA.
Reboots continue to remain in high demand as broadcast, cable and streaming outlets look for proven IP in a bid to cut through a cluttered scripted landscape that is quickly approaching 500 original series. Key to the remakes is having the original producers involved in some capacity as more studios look to monetize their existing film libraries.
Already in the works this season are reboots of Dynasty (The CW), War of the Worlds (MTV), Magnum P.I. (ABC), The Lost Boys (CW), Varsity Blues (CMT), The Departed (Amazon), Let the Right One In (TNT) and L.A. Law, though the latter does not yet have a network attached.
