Ragesh Dipu
Showtime has picked up the dark comedy series ‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida,’ starring Kirsten Dunst. The one-hour dark comedy series will be debuting on Sunday, August 25, 2019, on Showtime, announced the network on Monday. Dunst also serves as a producer of the project alongside George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures and Sony’s TriStar Television, reports Deadline.
‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida’ is set in a darkly comedic world of free enterprise and the American Dream in the early ‘90s. The plot follows a young woman Krystal Gill (Dunst), an Orlando water park employee who swears revenge on a pyramid scheme named Founders American Merchandise, which bankrupted her earlier. Apart from Dunst, the series also stars Théodore Pellerin, Beth Ditto, Mel Rodriguez and Ted Levine. Additional recurring cast members include Usman Ally, Julie Benz, Melissa De Sousa, John Earl Jelks, Sharon Lawrence, Josh Fadem, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Alexander Skarsgård, and Mary Steenburgen.
Created and executive produced by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky, the series has Dunst as one of the executive producers. Clooney, Heslov, Charlie McDowell, who was the director of the pilot, and Esta Spalding, who is the showrunner, are the other executive producers.
The series was ordered to series on YouTube last year. Sony started negotiations to migrate the show to some other potential broadcasters earlier this year. The decision came after YouTube’s policy shift to an all original series roster for its SVOD platform YouTube Premium. Sony and YouTube also failed to lock an AVOD deal for ‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida.’ It was initially set up at AMC, before going back and forth between television and streaming platforms.
“We were immediately drawn to this stylish and subversive female empowerment story starring Kirsten Dunst as you’ve never seen her before,” Gary Levine, who is the President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks, is quoted as saying by Deadline. “Throw in clever writing, inventive filmmaking, a strong, diverse ensemble and some alligators, and we’re confident Showtime audiences will find On Becoming A God irresistible!”
‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida’ is the latest addition to the summer roster for Showtime, which also has the crime drama ‘City on a Hill.’ Created by Chuck MacLean based on an original idea he developed with Ben Affleck, the series is set in the Boston underbelly of the ‘90s, which is sprawling with corruption, crimes, violence, and racism. Other major titles in Showtime slate for this year include the long-awaited Roger Ailes series ‘The Loudest Voice’ and ‘The L Word: Generation Q.’
Watch the first teaser trailer for ‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida’ below.
Cover Image Courtesy: Showtime.
