AMC Developing David Carr Memoir as a Miniseries

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES: AMC and Sony Pictures Television are developing David Carr’s best-selling memoir The Night of the Gun as a six-part miniseries, with Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) attached to play the late New York Times columnist.

Shawn Ryan (The Shield, Mad Dogs, Terriers) will be writing the miniseries, also serving as executive producer along with Odenkirk. Additional EPs are Marc Provissiero of Odenkirk-Provissiero and Joshua Astrachan of Animal Kingdom, which originated the project. Eileen Myers (Masters of Sex, Mad Dogs, Hung) is also attached as an executive producer and writer.

“David Carr’s work as a journalist was uncompromising, enlightening and most of all, always driven by a fundamental quest for the truth,” said Joel Stillerman, the president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. “When he turned those skills and values around to focus on his own life as an addict, the result was a stunningly original, compelling and important piece of journalism, the likes of which the world had never seen—a simultaneously heartbreaking, funny and inspirational account that redefined the idea of telling a personal story. Shawn Ryan, Bob Odenkirk and the incredible team behind this have embraced all the things that David would have loved as a storyteller, and crafted a vision for The Night of the Gun that we hope will be as timeless as David’s book.”

“David Carr’s life was the antithesis of formulaic and only a team as creative as this could bring it to life with authenticity, audacity and reverence,” said Helen Verno, the executive VP for movies and miniseries at Sony Pictures Television.

Ryan commented: “The Night of the Gun is an incredible tale of a journalist’s search for the truth about the most painful subject of his career—himself. David Carr’s autobiography is a searing, hysterical look at the demon of addiction and his journey from the crack pipe to esteemed columnist for The New York Times. I couldn’t be more honored to help bring his story to life, especially with the immensely talented Bob Odenkirk as an actor and creative partner.”

Odenkirk added: “I read David’s story, The Night of the Gun, when it came out and was wildly entertained by his saga. It’s a story of survival filled with pain, crack, journalistic righteousness, abandoned cars, crooks, lies, and then there’s the two little girls who saved his life; it’s overstuffed with humanity. Shawn Ryan is the man to explore this real antihero story. I hope to do justice to David’s intellect and his scrappy nature. It’s gonna be crazy…if we do it right.”