Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are developing a new western anthology titled "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," which will be premiering on Netflix in 2018.
Netflix announced the news on Wednesday via a press release. "The Coens are visionary directors, masterful storytellers, and colorful linguists," said Cindy Holland, vice president of original content for Netflix, adding, "We are thrilled for Netflix to become home to the full range of their talents."
The project will feature six stories about the American frontier, with each chapter featuring a different tale about the American West. The series will star James Franco, Zoe Kazan, Tyne Daly, Ralph Ineson, and Tim Blake Nelson who will be playing the titular Buster Scruggs.
The Oscar-winning siblings will write and direct the series as well as serve as the show's executive producers. Megan Ellison and Sue Naegle from Annapurna Television will be joining them as executive producers, along with longtime Coen Brothers collaborator, Robert Graf.
"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" will be the siblings' first project for television, being long-time writers and directors for movies. Some of their most highly regarded works in cinema include "The Big Lebowski," "Fargo," "True Grit," "No Country for Old Men," "Inside Llewyn Davis," and "A Serious Man."
The duo has been nominated for a total of 13 Academy awards. So far, they have won Best Original Screenplay for "Fargo" as well as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay for "No Country for Old Men."
The Coen brothers are the latest in the growing list of filmmakers who have made the transition from film to television. J.J. Abrams has "The Nix," which stars award-winning actress Meryl Streep, to be released by Warner Bros TV. David O. Russell currently has a series on Amazon starring Julianne Moore and Robert De Niro. The Wachowski sisters brought "Sense8" to Netflix in 2015, while Woody Allen debuted his "Crisis in Six Scenes" on Amazon last September.
