Jake Gyllenhaal reunites with his Prisoners and Enemy director Denis Villeneuve for the HBO limited series, The Son. Gyllenhaal is on board to star in and executive produce, with Oscar nominee Villeneuve (Arrival) directing and executive producing.
The Son, based on the New York Times bestseller by Jo Nesbø, is adapted by Lenore Zion. Zion is also the showrunner and executive produces with Kilter Films’ Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy as well as Nine Stories’ Riva Marker and Kilter Films’ Athena Wickham.
The limited series’ executive producers also include author Jo Nesbø, Niclas Salomonsson, Bold Films’ David Litvak, Gary Michael Walters, Michel Litvak, and Svetlana Metkina.
“Jonah and Lisa are a formidable creative force and we are excited to collaborate with them again, alongside the brilliant Lenore, to adapt Jo Nesbø’s novel,” said Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. “Denis is a master at weaving visually exquisite and unique narratives, Jake is a gifted actor and producer whose work often traverses provocative and compelling terrain, and of course, he and Denis have collaborated brilliantly in the past. We are beyond excited to see how this powerhouse team tackles this exceptional work.”
The Son is a Nine Stories Productions, Kilter Films, and Bold Films production in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal’s (Brokeback Mountain) credits include Nightcrawler, Everest, Nocturnal Animals, Stronger, Velvet Buzzsaw, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
The Book’s Plot:
Sonny Lofthus has been in prison for almost half his life: serving time for crimes he didn’t commit. In exchange, he gets an uninterrupted supply of heroin—and a stream of fellow prisoners seeking out his Buddha-like absolution. Years earlier Sonny’s father, a corrupt cop, took his own life rather than face exposure. Now Sonny is the center of a vortex of corruption: prison staff, police, lawyers, a desperate priest—all of them focused on keeping him stoned and jailed.
When Sonny discovers a shocking truth about his father’s suicide, he makes a brilliant escape and begins hunting down the people responsible for his and his father’s demise. But he’s also being hunted, and by enemies too many to count. Two questions remain: who will get to him first, and what will he do when he’s cornered?
