Whenever Justin Kurzel and Shaun Grant come together it's always bound to turn our heads. Add Jacob Elordi and a Booker Prize-winning novel from Australian literary icon, Richard Flanagan to the mix? That's a recipe for success. All parties are currently working on a limited series adaptation of Flanagan's 2013 novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. 

Find everything we know about the five-part series so far, below.

 

What is The Narrow Road to the Deep North about?

For those unfamiliar with the novel, it's set in a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway in August 1943. The narrative follows Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans at a particularly low moment; he's struggling to save the men under his command from cholera, from starvation, from beatings, and at the same time, he himself is haunted by the love affair he was enmeshed in two years earlier with his uncle's wife. Then he receives a letter that changes his life.

In 2014, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was awarded the Booker Prize, making Flanagan the third Australian to ever win the prize. His other books include Toxic, which lifted the lid on the power and pollution of Tasmania's salmon industry, Wanting, and his latest project, Question 7, a memoir and personal history.

Who is involved?

As mentioned, Jacob Elordi will play Dorrigo Evans, a role which requires the complexity Elordi is known to deliver. Thomas Weatherall from Heartbreak High will star, along with with Odessa Young of Mothering Sunday, Ciarán Hinds, Olivia DeJonge from Elvis, Heather Mitchell, Show Kasamatsu, and Simon Baker.

As far as the creation of the series, wherever director Justin Kurzel goes, screenwriter Shaun Grant is never too far behind as we saw with Nitram and Snowtown. Flanagan will jump on board as executive producer too.

 

Is there a release date?

No date has been set just yet, but the series will soon enter production and will launch on Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.