The first time I heard the name Joshua Zetumer was when he was brought in to do some uncredited work on the screenplay for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. Since then, Zetumer has written the RoboCop remake, Patriots Day, unused screenplays for Dune and a Jason Bourne sequel, and spec scripts that have sold or gotten positive attention but haven’t made it into production. He also created the Hulu mini-series Say Nothing. Now, Deadline reports that Zetumer has secured a major straight-to-series deal with the Netflix streaming service for his supernatural drama Pagans.
As Deadline describes it, “Zetumer triggered a bidding frenzy of a scope and intensity we have not seen in quite awhile. Some 15-18 studios, platforms and producers took part in the heated auction done in an unusual format that gave it a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Zetumer’s team from UTA and Entertainment 360 sent the script to designated potential buyers on a special app that allowed them to read it within a 24-hour window, with no option for the link to be copied or shared. That triggered an immediate reaction — bids started coming in right away, with multiple studios making seven-figure offers right off the bat, I hear. Within days, Pagans was the talk of the town, with the hot project becoming a topic du jour at the industry parties during Emmy weekend. The field of bidders was subsequently narrowed down, with Netflix eventually walking away with the spec that has Zetumer attached as writer, executive producer and showrunner. It will be developed through the streamer’s studio group headed by Nne Ebong who reports to Jinny Howe, head of U.S.-Canada scripted series.”
Pagans follows a man who becomes the sole caretaker of his two children after the tragic loss of his wife. While his son is typical, his daughter, Alice, is anything but. What starts as a strained father-daughter relationship soon evolves into something far more sinister. Equal parts emotional, horrifying and humorous, Pagans uses genre to unearth all the dark thoughts that parents have, the kind of thoughts mom and dad are never supposed to talk about… So it sounds like this one could turn out to be quite creepy and unnerving.
Does the Pagans series sound like something you would be interested in watching when it premieres on Netflix? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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