The Hollywood Reporter has announced Family Guy and The Orville creator Seth MacFarlane will develop The Winds of War, a miniseries adaptation of Herman Wouk’s books The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.
The Winds of War tells “the epic story of one American family’s turbulent voyage across the continents and across the years that spanned the Second World War.”
This will mark the first project under MacFarlane’s deal with NBCUniversal. Universal Content Productions will produce the miniseries, but will take it to other broadcasters, cable outlets and streaming services. MacFarlane and Seth Fisher (The Alienist) will co-wrote the series and executive produce alongside Erica Huggins, the president of MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door production company.
“I can’t think of a more exciting project with which to launch my creative partnership with UCP than Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War,” MacFarlane said. “I’ve been a devoted fan of Wouk’s WWII epic for decades, and its depiction of small-scale human endurance in the face of large-scale global upheaval has never been more relevant than it is today. In my very first meeting with [UCP president] Dawn Olmstead, we connected over this project — I learned that she herself comes from a Naval family — and to bring it to fruition under her stewardship and that of her UCP team will be a perfect fit for all. We can’t wait to get started.”
“We are thrilled to announce The Winds of War (and War and Remembrance) as the first of many projects we are developing with Fuzzy Door,” said UCP president Dawn Olmstead. “This is an epic story of valor, perseverance, survival and family that will be retold through a current lens. I’m very excited about our partnership with Seth as he looks to expand his oeuvre in the next phase of his career.”
“We are thrilled to have our first project with UCP be something that exemplifies Fuzzy Door’s intentions that we are looking to take risks, think outside the box and find stories that are urgent and entertaining,” Huggins added.
The Winds of War was previously adapted in 1983 as a miniseries for ABC starring Robert Mitchum.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.