FX gets Ang Lee to direct the pilot for their series Tyrant

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Despite what some people think about his films, Ang Lee has proven himself to be one hell of a director. Even HULK, despite many flaws, is a unique experiment in film-making. After winning his second Oscar for directing, Lee is doing something he has never done before: direct a pilot for a television series.

Deadline reports that Lee will direct the pilot episode for the upcoming FX series TYRANT, from HOMELAND creator Howard Gordon. The series will tell the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation. This seems kind of a reverse of their current series, the excellent THE AMERICANS, which follows a pair of Soviet spies in 1980s America.

Lee would end up serving as executive producer on the series, something that most big directors get as a trade off for directing TV series. I would be intrigued to see what he would do with the material. This also says quite a bit about the faith FX has in the material, grabbing such a high profile director just after his stock went through the roof with the Oscar win.

While he has never directed material similar to TYRANT, Lee has had such a scope of different films that I have no doubt he will bring something special to this series. FX has not turned out many bad series and their diverse slate of shows like SONS OF ANARCHY, AMERICAN HORROR STORY, JUSTIFIED, and THE AMERICANS shows they are trying hard to be the next AMC.