Having escaped the evil thrall of Pennywise and Nic Pizzolatto, Cary Fukunaga has just signed on to direct Maniac, a dark comedy series that should complement his upcoming forensic psychology show nicely. Maniac will be a Stateside adaptation of the Norwegian original, which centers on a man who retreats into a fantasy life to escape his mental-asylum reality. Fukunaga is expected to direct every episode of the half-hour series, but no writer(s) has been announced yet.
The Beasts Of No Nation director has once again teamed up with his True Detective producer Anonymous Content for Maniac, which is currently in search of a straight-to-series order. Fukunaga will probably be able to make a strong case for his show now that Emma Stone and Jonah Hill have signed on as the two leads. Aside from the occasional Saturday Night Live hosting gig, Hill has only made a handful of TV appearances, popping up on Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Reno 911!. But Stone got her start on TV with guest roles on Lucky Louie, Malcolm In The Middle, and a series-regular spot on the short-lived Fox series Drive, which co-starred Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, and Melanie Lynskey.
Fukunaga is eyeing a multiple-season storyline, and will executive produce the series with Stone and Hill. There’s no pilot order yet, hence no schedule for production, but they’ve all got plenty of other projects to keep busy with in the meantime.