The Queen’s Gambit creator Scott Frank developing The Sparrow for FX

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The Queen's Gambit proved to be one of Netflix's most successful limited series, and co-creator, writer, director Scott Frank has plenty of future projects in the works. It has been announced that Frank is slated to develop a limited series adaptation of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow for FX which will find him penning all the episodes and Johan Renck (Chernobyl) attached to direct.

First published in 1996, The Sparrow follows "a group of Jesuit priests and scientists, led by linguist Father Emilio Sandoz, that makes the first contact with extraterrestrial life. The Vatican then backs a secret mission to a faraway planet in order to prove the existence of God throughout the universe." Heavy stuff, but quite fascinating. Scott Frank and Johan Renck will also serve as executive producers alongside Mark Johnson (Better Call Saul).

In addition to The Sparrow, Scott Frank is also developing a feature-film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in The Dark which will reunite him with his Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy. The novel focused on a wealthy art critic named Albert who becomes obsessed with a young woman and aspiring film star by the name of Margot. When Margot reunites with a former lover, the pair scheme to take Albert for everything he's worth. Frank called the film "a valentine to movies, I'm going to do it as a film noir and a movie within a movie. And it's a really nasty, wonderful, thriller." Frank is also working on a Sam Spade TV series with Clive Owen. The project would explore an older version of the character, best known as the protagonist of The Maltese Falcon. "What if you do Sam Spade later in life and he’s 60s years old?" said Frank. "He’s now an ex-pat living in the South of France. His past comes to his past and finds him in this small town. It’s going to be a six-episode series with Clive Owen."