HBO Adapting 'The Last Tycoon' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Credit: Paramount Pictures

An F. Scott Fitzgerald work is being adapted, and surprise-surprise, it's neither The Great Gatsby nor The Curious Case of Benjamin Button!

HBO is adapting The Last Tycoon, Fitzgerald's final, unfinished novel. Billy Ray (screenwriter of Captain Phillips and The Hunger Games) will be working with the network to adapt the story, inspired by the life of iconic film producer Irving Thalberg. The tale centers on a studio executive's ascension to power, and his inevitable clash with his mentor, based on MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer.

Of course, this isn't the first screen adaptation of The Last Tycoon. Robert De Niro starred in a 1976 film version, adapted by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. Reception for the film, however, was mixed. Let's hope HBO can achieve a more favorable critical consensus with this series.

There's no timetable for when the show will being filming, much less when it will premiere, but count me among the excited. It's a great story from one of the greatest authors America ever produced, in my opinion (and having opinions about literature is pretty much the only thing my Master's in English is good for, so just trust me on this one).

Via: Vulture