Amazon Orders ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ Series Adaptation With Reese Witherspoon Producing
By Joe Otterson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Amazon has ordered a limited series based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel “Daisy Jones & The Six.”
The 13-episode series will be a co-production between Studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine banner. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the Oscar-nominated screenwriters of “The Disaster Artist,” will pen the script and serve as executive producers. Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter will executive produce for Hello Sunshine along with Brad Mendelsohn for Circle of Confusion. Reid will serve as producer.
“Daisy Jones & The Six” centers on a fictional rock band in the 1970s, following their rise through the ranks of the LA music scene and beyond, eventually becoming one of the most legendary bands in the world. Original music from the series will be made available exclusively through Amazon Music, and the print and audiobook from Ballantine / Random House will also be available via Amazon.com and Audible.com.
“When I heard Hello Sunshine was developing ‘Daisy Jones & The Six,’ I tracked down a copy right away and devoured it in one sitting,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “I loved it so much I had to take it off the market and bring it to Amazon Studios. I was immediately struck by how perfectly it fit into our overall approach of bringing passionate creators and entertaining, compelling content to our Prime Video audience. Reese, Lauren and I are kindred spirits!”
According to an individual with knowledge of the negotiations, Salke aggressively pursued the project with Hello Sunshine, wishing to take it off the market before it was even taken out to other networks or streaming services.
The project marks the latest TV producer credit for Witherspoon. In addition to executive producing and starring in the critically-acclaimed HBO series “Big Little Lies,” Witherspoon is also executive producing and starring in an upcoming drama at Apple about the behind-the-scenes world of a network morning show. Among her other producing credits, she is also an executive producer on another upcoming Apple drama, “Are You Sleeping,” which will star Octavia Spencer, and the Hulu drama “Little Fires Everywhere.”
“As soon as I started reading ‘Daisy Jones & The Six,’ I immediately fell head over heels in love with it, and I’m thrilled to be bringing it to the screen with Amazon and Jen Salke, whose passionate pursuit of the material spoke volumes,” said Witherspoon. “With Neustadter and Weber, two writers I deeply admire, stewarding this project, I am so confident that Daisy and her band’s journey toward finding their voice will leave just as permanent a mark with viewers around the world as it did with me.”
