WeWork Series in Development With ‘Succession’s’ Nicholas Braun Attached to Star

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – A television series based on the tumultuous story of WeWork is in the works, Variety has confirmed.

Chernin Entertainment and Endeavor Content have acquired the rights to the upcoming book about the shared workspace company from Wall Street Journal reporters Maureen Farrell and Eliot Brown. Nicholas Braun, who currently plays Cousin Greg on the critically-acclaimed HBO series “Succession,” is attached to star as cofounder Adam Neumann. and Chernin Entertainment have also acquired the unscripted rights and are developing a documentary based on the book.

Farrell and Brown’s book will be published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The project is in the early development stages, with no writer or network currently attached. Braun will serve as executive producer in addition to starring. Chernin Entertainment and Endeavor Content will produce under their TV drama development pact. Other shows produced under the deal include “See” and “Truth be Told” at Apple and “Circe,” the drama series adaptation of Madeline Miller’s book of the same name at HBO Max.

WeWork was viewed as the next hot startup and was valued at nearly $50 billion at one time. However, the company pulled the plug on an initial public offering in September in the wake of revelations about the erratic management and personal enrichment of its founder Adam Neumann, as well as questions about its business model and the role of funders like JPMorgan and Softbank. Neumann resigned from the company around this time, while Wework accepted a bailout from SoftBank in October.

The series is the second WeWork project currently in development. It was previously announced that Universal and Blumhouse are currently prepping a film about the company with “The Big Short” screenwriter Charles Randolph attached to pen the script. The film is based on Katrina Brooker’s reporting and upcoming book.

In addition to starring in “Succession,” Braun has starred in films such as “The Stanford Prison Experiment” and “How to Be Single.” He will next be seen in the film “Zola,” based on the viral Twitter thread, which is set to debut at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Braun is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Brown and Farrell are repped by Anonymous Content and Fletcher & Co.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported this development news.