Spacey, Fincher Unite on House of Cards

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey has agreed to star in and executive produce the TV pilot for the upcoming  political thriller House of Cards. Directing the pilot is The Social Network director David Fincher in his television-directing debut. Spacey and Fincher will be producing the pilot for indie production company Media Rights Capital (MRC), who also produced the recent Matt Damon thriller The Adjustment Bureau as well as such HBO shows as The Ricky Gervais Show and The Life and Times of Tim.

House of Cards was originally a novel, then was adapted into a BBC miniseries, and will now be adapted into an American series by Fincher and company. The original novel as well as the UK miniseries is set in the Margaret Thatcher era of Enlgish politics and centers around a cutthroat British politician vying for the job of Prime Minister and doing whatever it takes to get the position. The American adaptation will shift this premise into a more America-friendly setting, marking the original novel’s second adaptation (look for the comic book coming out next year).

Kevin Spacey at Comic-Con | Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia User Pinguino K

Joining Fincher to executive produce House of Cards is Eric Roth, the screenwriter of Fincher’s last film before The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Roth and Fincher have reportedly been developing this adaptation since 2009. The series will explore the same themes as its English predecessor: political underhandedness and scheming.

House of Cards has yet to be purchased by a major network, though from the way it looks now, premium cable seems to be the show’s best bet. The team of Fincher and Spacey, as well as the critical acclaim gleaned from the BBC miniseries definitely cast this pilot in a positive light. Here’s to hoping we can see lots of Spacey being sinister on the small screen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *