Showtime Orders Stiller Adaption of Shteyngart Novel

Showtime has ordered Ben Stiller’s adaptation of Super Sad True Love Story, an adaptation of the 2010 novel by Gary Shteyngart. Media Rights Capital is producing and Shteyngart will hold an executive producer title.

Super Sad takes place in near-future New York, with America on the brink of economic collapse, and tells the story of a bizarre love affair between a first-generation Russian man and considerably younger Korean-American woman.

Variety previously reported the order; a Showtime spokesperson confirmed it.

Shteyngart emigrated to the U.S. from the Soviet Union as a boy. His novels include The Russian Debutante’s Handbook and Absurdistan, along with the memoir Little Failure.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.