Florence Pugh to Lead East of Eden Series With Zoe Kazan to Write

June 22, 2022

According to Deadline, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh continues to be booked and busy, as she has officially signed on to another project in the form of a limited series for Netflix. The Big Sick actress Zoe Kazan is attached to write the TV adaptation of East of Eden, based on John Steinbeck’s classic novel of the same name.

“I fell in love with East of Eden when I first read it, in my teens. Since then, adapting Steinbeck’s novel — the great, sprawling, three-generational entirety of it — has been my dream. More than anything, I have wanted to give full expression to the novel’s astonishing, singular antiheroine, Cathy Ames,” Kazan said in a statement. “Florence Pugh is our dream Cathy; I can’t imagine a more thrilling actor to bring this character to life. Writing this limited series over the last two years has been the creative highpoint of my life. I hope that with our partners at Netflix, Anonymous Content, and Endeavor Content, we can do justice to this material — and shed new light on it for a 21st-century audience.”

The East of Eden limited drama is currently in the early stages of development. It will be a co-production between Anonymous Content and Endeavor Content. It is executive produced by Kazan, with Pugh also set as a producer.

The novel follows the interconnected stories of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons. It was first adapted into a film in 1955, which was directed by Kazan’s grandfather Elia Kazan and was also famous for being James Dean’s first major feature.

The East of Eden series will be added to Pugh’s growing list of upcoming film projects, including Olivia Wilde’s thriller pic Don’t Worry Darling, Christopher Nolan’s all-star film Oppenheimer, Zach Braff’s drama pic Good Person, Universal Pictures’ murder mystery film The Maid, Apple’s sci-fi film Dolly, the film adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s psychological thriller novel titled The Wonder, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 2.