Matt Bomer to Lead Showtime McCarthy-Era Limited Series

Matt Bomer is headed to Washington — circa the early 1950s — for his next TV project.

Showtime has ordered Fellow Travelers, a limited series starring and executive produced by Bomer (Doom Patrol, The Sinner). The eight-part drama, based on a novel by Thomas Mallon, is set in McCarthy-era Washington. Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) is adapting the book.

Daniel Minahan (Halston, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) is set to direct the first two episodes and will also exec produce, along with Robbie Rogers (All American).

Fellow Travelers is described as a love story and political thriller chronicling the volatile romance of two men who meet in the shadow of McCarthy-era Washington. Bomer will play Hawkins Fuller, a charismatic political operative. Hawkins avoids emotional entanglements until he meets Tim Laughlin, a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith. They begin a romance just as Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his chief counsel, Roy Cohn, declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants” in D.C.

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The story will span several decades as the two men cross paths amid the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the hedonism of the ’70s and the AIDS crisis of the ’80s.

“As a thrilling and deeply moving exploration of character and American life in the latter half of the past century, Fellow Travelers shines an unprecedented light on stories that are as urgent today as ever,” said Showtime Networks entertainment president Jana Winograde. “The series delivers us directly into an insider world of Washington rife with national consequences, while drawing out the intimate moments that are profoundly personal and often heartbreaking. We are beyond thrilled to have Ron, Matt, Robbie and Daniel take us on this suspenseful and romantic journey.”

Fremantle and Showtime are co-producing Fellow Travelers, with Bomer, Nyswaner, Minahan and Rogers as executive producers.