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A series based on Octavia Butler's sci-fi novel Kindred is coming to FX

Iconic Black sci-fi writer Octavia Butler's acclaimed novel is being brought to the small screen by Watchmen's Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Zola's Janicza Bravo.

By

Marcus Jones

Published on January 11, 2022 03:22PM EST

MacArthur Fellow and Hugo Award-winning author Octavia E. Butler is having one of her most beloved works adapted for the small screen.

On Monday, FX announced it has ordered Kindred to series, telling the story of the hugely popular and influential science fiction novel throughout an eight-episode season. The show will be written and executive produced by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Watchmen), with the pilot directed and executive produced by Janicza Bravo, the director and co-writer of Zola.

A fixture in African American literature, the acclaimed book centers on Dana, a young Black aspiring writer who's optimistic about her plans to relocate to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, right as she is ready to settle down in her new home, she begins to be dragged back and forth in time, forced to confront her familial history head-on at a nineteenth century plantation. Threading her past and present together is an interracial romance as she works against the clock to uncover secrets she never knew ran through her blood, making for what's said to be a "genre-breaking exploration of the ties that bind."

Newcomer Mallori Johnson will play Dana, with stars Ryan Kwanten, Micah Stock, Gayle Rankin, Austin Smith, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, and David Alexander Kaplan working alongside her.

In addition to Jacobs-Jenkins and Bravo, the series is executive produced by Courtney Lee-Mitchell, Ari Handel, and Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, as wells as The Americans showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, Ernestine Walker, and Merrilee Heifetz.

Kindred by Octavia Butler CR: Doubleday — 'Kindred' by Octavia Butler is a fixture of African American literature. Doubleday

Nick Grad, President of Original Programming at FX, previewed the project by saying, "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has done a phenomenal job of adapting Kindred for FX and honoring the legacy and timeless value of Octavia Butler's groundbreaking novel." He adds, "The pilot directed by Janicza Bravo is brilliant and we can't wait to resume production with this incredibly talented and dedicated cast."

There is no word yet on when Kindred will premiere.

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A series based on Octavia Butler's sci-fi novel Kindred is coming to FX

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