Regina King and David E. Kelley are teaming to adapt the Tom Wolfe novel “A Man in Full” as a Netflix limited series, Variety has learned exclusively.
The drama project has received a straight-to-series order at the streamer, with Netflix ordering six one-hour episodes. In the series, when Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker faces sudden bankruptcy, political and business interests collide as Charlie defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace.
Kelley will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on “A Man in Full.” King will direct the first three episodes in addition to serving as an executive producer under her Royal Ties production banner. Reina King of Royal Ties Productions also executive produces along with Matthew Tinker of David E. Kelley Productions. Royal Ties currently has a first-look deal at Netflix.
“All I can say is when David E. Kelley calls, you just say yes,” King said. “I know this partnership will produce something special.”
News of the series comes one day after the Netflix debut of the western feature “The Harder They Fall,” in which King stars. In addition to her many acting accolades, King has been increasingly active as a director in recent years, helming episodes of hit shows like “This Is Us” at NBC, “Scandal” at ABC, and “Insecure” at HBO. Her feature directorial debut, “One Night in Miami,” earned King numerous nominations for best direct at various awards show, with the film also picking up three Academy Award nominations.
King is reppred by ICM, John Carrabino, and Gang Tyre.
“A passion project for me, no doubt,” Kelley said. “The opportunity to tackle Tom Wolfe’s brilliant and prescient novel, to have Regina helming — I could not be more excited.”
This is the latest series order for Kelley at Netflix. He is also currently working on the shows “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Anatomy of a Scandal,” both of which are also based on books. Variety exclusively reported in October that Kelley is currently on a Peacock series adaptation of the Dror A. Mishani novel “The Missing File.” His recent credits as a TV creator include “Big Sky” at ABC, which just launched its second season, and “Nine Perfect Strangers” at Hulu, which ran on the streamer from August-September. He has also shepherded popular shows like “Big Little Lies,” “The Undoing,” and “Big Shot” in the past few years.
He is repped by CAA and Gendler & Kelly.
“The powerhouse combination of Regina King and David E. Kelley taking on the biting, still-timely social commentary of Tom Wolfe is simply undeniable,” said Nne Ebong, Netflix vice president of overall deals.