Not long after wrapping his upcoming James Bond film, NO TIME TO DIE, it’s been announced that filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga’s THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS reboot has found a home with HBO Max. Joining Fukunaga for the TV series based on James Fenimore Cooper’s classic novel is WATCHMEN director Nicole Kassell, who will shoot the update from a script penned by Fukunaga and Nick Osbourne.
The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news, in addition to sharing that the new version is set to be a retelling of the author’s French and Indian War novel that focuses on the unlikely romance between Uncas, a young Mohican, and Cora, the mixed-race daughter of a British colonel.
Development for Fukunaga’s THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS reboot began back in April, courtesy of Paramount Television, where Fukunaga has a first-look deal. As per the set up, Fukunaga, Osbourne and Kassell will serve as executive producers as part of a partnership with Anonymous Content’s Alex Goldstone and Bard Dorros as well as Sugar23’s Michael Sugar. Previously, Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was adapted into a 1920 film that the Library of Congress considers to be a “culturally significant” slice of cinema. Moreover, the 1920 version, as directed by Clarence Brown and Maurice Tourneur, is also a part of the U.S. National Film Registry.
In more recent times, director Michael Mann adapted Cooper’s story for the big screen yet again in 1992. Mann’s version starred Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye (Nathaniel Poe), with Russell Means as Chingachgook, and Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro.
When Fukunaga and Kassell’s Mohicans arrives, theirs will be the latest telling of a story that revolves around a romance birthed in taboo, and tested by the anguish and devastating effects of war. This project is considered by many to be a major get for HBO Max, especially as Fukunaga and Kassell’s stars continue to rise throughout their burgeoning careers.