Yorgos Lanthimos is set to direct an adaptation of “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit,” which is development at Fox Searchlight Television, a rep for the division confirmed to TheWrap. It is based on the best-selling book by Mark Seal.
David Gilbert is adapting the screenplay for the limited series, which will tell the true story of Clark Rockefeller, a gregarious, successful, and mysterious descendant of the Rockefeller clan. When his wife Sandra begins to suspect that Clark isn’t who he says he is, his decades-long web of deception slowly begins to unravel.
Lanthimos and Fox Searchlight worked together earlier this year on “The Favourite,” which earned 10 Oscar nominations – among them Best Picture and Best Director with Olivia Colman winning for Best Actress.
The project was originally set to be a feature, with Pablo Trapero previously attached to direct in 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch was also at one point attached to star as the famous con-artist, and David Bar Katz was set to write. Though the project has changed direction, Donald De Line remains the executive producer, now with Lanthimos and Element Pictures as well.
Deadline was first to break the news that Lanthimos is directing the adaptation.