Five months of production has been completed on Jacob Elordi-starring drama series “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” which is set in the “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” star’s native Australia.
An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is a love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Elordi portrays Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans and co-stars with Odessa Young (“Mothering Sunday,” “Shirley”). Ciaran Hinds (“Belfast”) plays the older version of Evans.
The adapted screenplay was penned by Shaun Grant (“Nitram,” “Mindhunter,” “Penguin Bloom”) and the show is directed by Justin Kurzel (“Nitram,” “Shantaram”).
Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In other territories, it distributed by Sony Pictures Television.
Flanaghan’s novel, published in 2013, chronicles a century dominated by war, with forced labor on the Thai-Burma Railway and a brief love affair as its dramatic heart.
The story is told over multiple time periods by an Australian doctor who was taken prisoner during World War II and became an unlikely and uncomfortable hero after the war’s end. The journey moves from the doctor’s’ childhood, through to his experience as a prisoner-of-war on the Thailand-Burma Railway as a young man, and later in life, as a respected surgeon and Australian war hero.
“’The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ is a love story to sustain audiences through the darkest of times, an intimate character study illustrating the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and an investigation into a marriage and an unforgettable love affair,” said Prime Video in a statement.
Jacob Elordi and Odessa Young in The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Prime Video, Curio Pictures, and Sony Pictures Television
The previously announced cast also includes Olivia DeJonge (“Elvis”), Heather Mitchell (“Love Me,” “Upright”), Thomas Weatherall (“Heartbreak High”), Show Kasamatsu (“Tokyo Vice”), Charles A, and Simon Baker (“Limbo,” “Breath”).
The producers also confirmed the casting of Essie Davis, William Lodder, Eduard Geyl, Christian Byers, Sam Parsonson, Reagan Mannix, Fabian McCallum, Caelan McCarthy, David Howell, Abe Taki, Yamaguchi Masa and Fujii Akira.
Jo Porter and Rachel Gardner from Curio Pictures both serve as executive producers. Kurzel, Grant and Flanagan are also executive producers, with Alexandra Taussig producing. Major production investment came from Screen Australia, with assistance from the NSW Government through Screen NSW’s Made in NSW and PDV Funds.
From Variety US