Hulu Goes Straight to Series with The Handmaid’s Tale

SANTA MONICA: Hulu has given a straight-to-series order for The Handmaid’s Tale, a drama from MGM Television that stars Elisabeth Moss.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood, the series will be created, executive produced and written by Bruce Miller (The 100), with Daniel Wilson (The Handmaid’s Tale motion picture), Fran Sears (Sophisticated Gents) and Warren Littlefield (Fargo) serving as executive producers. Atwood will serve as consulting producer for the drama, which will debut on Hulu in 2017.

Moss (Top of the Lake, Truth, Mad Men) stars as Offred, a handmaid trying to survive in the male-dominated totalitarian regime of Gilead. She is enslaved by a society that values only her fertility, and must find a way to survive in this world of oppression and swift, cruel punishments.

“Hulu has established itself as a home for blockbuster television events and what better way to expand our originals offering than with a series based on this acclaimed, best-selling novel,” said Craig Erwich, the senior VP and head of content at Hulu. “Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was seen as ahead of its time and we look forward to bringing it to life on our platform.”

Atwood commented: “I am thrilled that MGM and Hulu are developing The Handmaid’s Tale as a series, and extra thrilled that the very talented Elisabeth Moss will be playing the central character. The Handmaid’s Tale is more relevant now than when it was written, and I am sure the series will be watched with great interest. I have read the first two scripts and they are excellent; I can hardly wait to see the finished episodes.”

“The Handmaid’s Tale is a project that we have been committed to bringing to life as its story remains as powerful today as it did when Margaret first published her novel,” said Mark Burnett, the president of the television and digital group at MGM, and Steve Stark, the president of television development and production at MGM. “Handmaid’s Tale has won multiple awards, inspiring a film, a graphic novel, an opera, a ballet and finally, for the first time, a compellingly immersive drama series that has found the perfect home at Hulu and its star in Elisabeth Moss.”

The Handmaid’s Tale is produced by MGM Television and marks the first collaboration for an original series between Hulu and MGM.