The Slap Screengrab Melissa George - H 2012
NBC is ready to get slapped.
The network is near a deal to adapt Australian miniseries The Slap with Brothers & Sisters creator Jon Robin Baitz on board to pen the project, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
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The Australian series ran on ABC1 in 2011 and starred Melissa George, Jonathan LaPaglia and Sophie Okonedo and was based on the 2008 best-seller by Christos Tsiolkas, which explored what happened when a man slaps a child unrelated to him at a family gathering. Each installment of the eight-episode series told the story from different points of view.
The series earned a BAFTA nomination for best international program and won five Australian Academy of Cinema and Television awards, including best miniseries.
The NBC adaptation hails from Universal Television and Australia’s Matchbox Pictures, the shingle behind the original. Baitz and Matchbox’s Tony Ayres will executive produce alongside Universal TV’s Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Ted Gold.
Slap continues the network’s relationship with Parkes and MacDonald, who also are behind NBC’s midseason pirate drama Crossbones.
Watch a trailer for the Australian version, below.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
