

On the book side, the duo are curating an anthology of essays titled Fight of the Century for ViacomCBS-owned publisher Simon & Schuster. “We’re looking forward with so much excitement to this next phase of our collaboration.” “The team at CBS Studios is the best we’ve ever worked with,” Waldman and Chabon said in a joint statement Tuesday. They’re also prepping Behind You, from National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson, for Hulu as well as The Heavens and Ghost Ship, which are both in early development and have not yet been taken out to networks. Peter Berg, Michael Lombardo and Elizabeth Roy exec produce that project via Film44. That is based on Waldman’s book about microdosing with LSD. Waldman and Chabon have multiple TV projects in various stages of development, including Showtime’s A Really Good Day starring Anna Chlumsky ( Veep). We’re thrilled to have them on our incredibly talented roster.”

“From award-winning novels and nonfiction to their television and film collaborations, they have a remarkable body of work. “Ayelet and Michael are two of America’s preeminent writers,” said CBS Television Studios president David Stapf. Financial terms of the pact were not immediately available. In addition to Picard and Kavalier and Clay, CBS TV Studios will have exclusive rights to produce TV content created and developed by Chabon and Waldman as part of the multiple-year deal. By 2007, Chabon noted the project had gone “south,” citing “studio politics.” Daldry’s name resurfaced when, in a December 2011 interview, he revealed he was considering adapting Kavalier and Clay for TV, envisioning the eight-part series at HBO. Rumors about a film based on the best-seller persisted in the years that followed, with Stephen Daldry at one point attached to the title and actors including Tobey Maguire, Jamie Bell, Natalie Portman, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling, Ben Whishaw and Jason Schwartzman all rumored to be in the mix. By late 2004, however, Chabon declared the film dead.

In the years that followed, six drafts of the script were completed and Sydney Pollack was attached to direct the feature, with Jude Law in talks to play Kavalier. The Showtime miniseries take arrives decades after Chabon worked with producer Scott Rudin to adapt the beloved title for the big screen with Paramount Pictures. Star Trek franchise captain Alex Kurtzman will exec produce Kavalier and Clay alongside fellow Picard exec producer Akiva Goldsman.
