COLUMBIA TRI STARYou'll never guess what NBC is planning for its next live production. Seriously, even if you had 100 tries you probably wouldn't even come close.
The network announced today that Aaron Sorkin is adapting his critically acclaimed play A Few Good Men (which he later turned into a movie) for a live TV broadcast, the network's first live drama production. The event is scheduled to air sometime in early 2017. (Hairspray, the network's next live musical production, will air in late 2016.)
A Few Good Men, which premiered on Broadway in 1989, was the West Wing creator's professional writing debut. He later adapted it into the Oscar-nominated film starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, among many others.
"I am thrilled that Aaron Sorkin is coming back to NBC to adapt and produce a live broadcast of his electrifying play A Few Good Men, which seems as timely as ever today," NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement. "Aaron is one of the most acclaimed theater, television and film authors of our time, and I am pleased that the live event business that we pioneered with musicals is now expanding into other genres and attracting artists of his caliber. I look forward to his collaboration with our 'A-team' producers, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, to bring another exciting piece of live drama to a broad audience."
A Few Good Men follows military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) as he defends three Marines on trial for murder. The stage play, on which the live production will be based, is set in 1986 and takes place in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.