Ethan Hawke To Write And Star In The Good Lord Bird

Variety reports that Ethan Hawke is set to write, executive produce and star in a series based on James McBride’s 2013 novel The Good Lord Bird for Blumhouse Television. He will play abolitionist John Brown and co-write with Mark Richard.

This will be a new direction from Blumhouse, as they have been wanting to do classier TV shows than the low-budget horror movies they’re known for. This is a reunion for good friends Hawke and producer Jason Blum, who previously worked together on 2013’s The Purge. Hawke previously said that The Good Lord Bird is one of his six favorite books. It will be executive produced by McBride, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke and David Schiff.

Here’s a synopsis: “The Good Lord Bird” follows a young slave who joins up with Brown, disguises himself as a girl to avoid being recognized, and eventually participates in the famous 1859 raid on the army depot at Harpers Ferry. That effort was intended by Brown to initiate a slave revolt. It failed in that aim, but it is widely believed to have helped to ignite the Civil War.