Those hoping to see Frances McDormand’s iconic character in the TV adaptation of the Coen brothers’ classic film Fargo will be disappointed.
The Hollywood Reporter is, well, reporting that arguably the most memorable character from Fargo, the Minnesota-set movie from Joel and Ethan Coen, will not appear in the TV show based on the film. Frances McDormand’s Minnesota sheriff Marge Gunderson won’t be in the show.
This was revealed by Roma Khanna, president of the television group and digital initiatives at MGM Studios today at a Media Mastermind keynote at MIPCOM, an entertainment market held at Cannes. Khanna had this to say:
She’s [Gunderson] not in it. It’s not a retelling of the same story, because on so many levels that would be foolish.
This makes sense. While it will be nice to see a story similar to the one that was so popular in Fargo, trying to reproduce that exact same story in a TV series would probably not work very well.
The Fargo TV show will include other characters from the movie. It was announced at the end of September that Martin Freeman will play the role originally played by William H. Macy. Freeman will play Lester Nygaard (the character’s first name was Jerry in the Coen brothers’ film), the main character who is an insurance salesman and proves throughout the story how inept he is at pulling off a crime.
The only other cast member currently announced is Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton will play Lorne Malvo, the “roothless, manipulative man who meets the small-town insurance salesman and sets him on a path of destruction.”
The series will last for only 10 episodes when it is released on FX. Production on Fargo will start in October. It’s planned to be released in Spring 2014.
Though the cast is shaping up to be impressive, the people behind the camera are perhaps even more impressive. Joel and Ethan Coen will be returning to executive produce Fargo. Noah Hawley will write the series as well as executive produce. The pilot will be directed by Emm-winning director Adam Bernstein (30 Rock, Breaking Bad) who will also executive produce. Other executive producers are Warren Littlefield and Geyer Kosinski.
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