Hot on the heels of Wonder Woman‘s box-office success, director Patty Jenkins is turning to television next, and she’s taking one of the stars of the movie with her.
TNT has handed out a six-episode straight-to-series pickup for One Day She’ll Darken, starring Wonder Woman’s Chris Pine, with Jenkins set to direct and executive produce. The drama, inspired by the autobiography of Fauna Hodel, will be written by Jenkins’ husband and author Sam Sheridan.
The announcement, made ahead of the Turner-owned cable network’s presentation Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, comes days after a release date was set for Wonder Woman 2 with Jenkins in talks to potentially return. The Warner Bros. feature has become the top-grossing movie from a female director and continues to see its box office grow.
Pine will make his live-action series-regular debut in the drama and exec produce. Jenkins will direct the pilot (and potentially more) as well as exec produce. Turner’s Studio T will produce, with Michael Sugar (13 Reasons Why) also set as an exec producer.
One Day She’ll Darken tells the story of Hodel, who was given away by her teenage birth mother to a black restroom attendant in a Nevada casino in 1949. As she begins to investigate the secrets to her past, she follows a sinister trail that swirls closer to an infamous Hollywood gynecologist, Dr. George Hodel, who was involved in the legendary Black Dahlia slaying of Elizabeth Short in Los Angeles in 1947. Pine will star as Jay Singletary, a former Marine turned hack reporter/paparazzo. Singletary was disgraced about his story about Hodel years ago, but now sees a glimmer of redemption. This may be the opportunity he has been hopelessly waiting for, but inside this riddle lies a moral quandary he never expected: a labyrinth into the evil in men’s hearts that will shake the unsteady Singletary to his foundations.
The drama landed at TNT after being shopped to premium cable and streaming services as well as FX, with sources telling The Hollywood Reporter that multiple networks passed on the project that is described as a limited series.
“One Day She’ll Darken is a mind-boggling true mystery with unpredictable twists and turns and edge-of-your-seat chills,” said Sarah Aubrey, executive vp original programming at TNT. “Sam Sheridan, an expert storyteller, has delivered scripts that entertain, frighten and tell tales of redemption and a powerful search for identity. Chris Pine has wowed us with so many of his performances, and knowing how multidimensional his character is in One Day She’ll Darken, we are so lucky to have an actor as talented as he is to lead this cast.”
Pine, who lends his voice to Crackle’s animated comedy SuperMansion, will next be seen in Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time and has Outlaw King up next. He is repped by CAA, John Carrabino Management and Gendler & Kelly.
Jenkins has a handful of TV directing gigs including Arrested Development and Lifetime’s Five, as well as AMC’s The Killing. She is repped by CAA and Sugar at Anonymous Content.
Sheridan, a travel writer, has penned books including A Fighter’s Heart and The Disaster Diaries.
One Day She’ll Darken puts TNT into the true-crime genre that has become all the rage on cable and streaming following the success of programming like The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story as network president Kevin Reilly looks for buzzier titles and stars to help deliver edgier content in a bid to compete with other outlets. It joins a drama roster that includes The Alienist, Good Behavior and the just-renewed Animal Kingdom as well as The Last Ship, Major Crimes, Claw, Will and The Librarians.
