Showtime orders Franzen project with Daniel Craig

Showtime has ordered Purity, a TV adaptation of the Jonathan Franzen novel starring 007 actor Daniel Craig.

The twenty-episode series will also be exec produced by Craig (pictured, second left), alongside Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, David Hare (far right) and Jonathan Franzen (far left).

Todd Field (above, third left) will write and direct all episodes of the show.

Production starts in 2017 and the series will run over two years on the US premium cable net.

Franzen’s epic story follows a young woman, Purity, who embarks on a journey to discover the identity of her father.

David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks said: “Jonathan Franzen’s Purity is an epic American novel that pulses with the energy of a psychological thriller. I whipped through it in a week.”

“His gripping and timely story has attracted a powerhouse team – Todd Field, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, David Hare, along with Franzen himself, and the brilliant Daniel Craig who is perfectly cast as the charismatic, mysterious Andreas Wolf [the leader of a Wikileaks type operation].”

In the UK Purity will play on the Sky Atlantic channel as part of its output deal with CBS-owned Showtime.