Coen Brothers Making Their First TV Series With ‘Ballad Of Buster Scruggs’


The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, are well-known and highly successful filmmakers. While they are already known for having an enormous impact on the big screen, it now appears that the Coen brothers will be trying their hand at the small screen. The two brothers are reportedly in the process of making a new television series.

According to Variety, the Coen brothers have now written a new western-themed miniseries, which is called The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The Coen brothers will handle the directing duties for the new miniseries as well.

The Coen brothers have teamed up with Annapurna Television, per Variety. Annapurna Television is a recently created branch of Annapurna Pictures, a company that is known for films such as Lawless, Zero Dark Thirty, Foxcatcher, American Hustle, and several others.

Annapurna Pictures is owned by Megan Ellison. After Annapurna Television came into being, Sue Naegle was chosen as its president, Variety reported at the time.

Both Ellison and Naegle have reportedly secured roles as executive producers for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. In a statement to Variety, the Coen brothers described how they are looking forward to the partnership.

“We are very excited to be working with Megan and Sue on this project.”

According to Variety, the details surrounding the plot of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs are not yet known, but the series “will intertwine six different storylines.” The miniseries format was chosen due to the fact that “the scope of the project” was deemed too difficult and complex to be addressed “in one feature film,” according to sources who spoke with Variety.

Variety also reports that the western genre is already a familiar territory for the Coen brothers. One of the movies that Variety mentions is the 2010 remake of True Grit. The original story is based on a novel by Charles Portis, and the first film adaptation, which starred John Wayne as the main character of Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn, was released in 1969. In the Coen brothers remake of the film, the character is played by Jeff Bridges.

The other movie that Variety points to is the 2008 film No Country for Old Men, which was based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. The film, which has been described at times as a “modern western,” stars Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Javier Bardem. No Country for Old Men won four Academy Awards, with Best Picture being one of them.

True Grit and No Country for Old Men were obviously both major successes for the Coen brothers. Other movies you might remember the Coen Brothers for include, but are far from limited to, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and Fargo.

Fargo, a film that starred Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare and was released in 1996, inspired a TV show from writer Noah Hawley as well. Although an official release date has yet to be established, the third season of the Fargo TV series is set to air in the spring of this year, according to the Atlantic. The first two seasons aired in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Similar to shows like American Horror Story and True Detective, Fargo features a new cast and storyline for each season. Although The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs will be the Coen brothers first “original TV series,” they have been “credited as executive producers” for the TV version of Fargo, as BBC notes.

At this point, in addition to the plot details being up in the air, the Verge also notes that information regarding when The Ballad of Buster Scruggs might air and which channel it may be on are not yet known either. Before one gets too excited about the possibility of a Season 2 of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, it should be noted that the show is being described as a “limited series.”

Given their impressive resume, it wouldn’t be too surprising at all to the Coen brothers make a smooth and effortless transition from movies to television. Will you be tuning in for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs?

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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