WGN America has greenlit Ten Commandments from The Weinstein Co., announced Matt Cherniss, president and general manager of WGN America and Tribune Studios on Sunday.
The scripted series will feature 10 episodes each directed by a different filmmaker. The five directors already signed on include: Milk's Gus Van Sant, The Butler's Lee Daniels, In the Name of the Father's Jim Sheridan, Scream's Wes Craven and Juno actor Michael Cera.
Silver Linings Playbook producer Bruce Cohen and Weinstein Co. co-chairman Bob Weinstein have been tapped to produce the project.
“We are thrilled and honored to have filmmakers of this caliber as a part of this ambitious project, and thank Bruce Cohen and The Weinstein Company for bringing this diverse group of directors together,” said Cherniss in a statement. “The unique structure of the Ten Commandments project and the stature of directors involved reflects the creative and bold approach to quality programming that we aspire to as we move towards making WGN America a destination network. We look forward to seeing what each of these talented filmmakers has in store for the audience."
"Each of these directors is acclaimed for their own unique brand of style and genre, so it’s clear that we can expect ten wildly different episodes from this series," said Weinstein.
Each director will be tasked with interpreting one of the 10 commandments during the series.
“I'm extremely excited to become part of this project. Working with Bob and Harvey has been a huge part of my career for more than a decade, and this project absolutely fascinates me,” said Craven. “The chance to put my own personal spin in a contemporary manner on these ancient commands is priceless, as is the chance to work alongside so many other directors whose work has inspired me over the years.”
