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Serial Podcast to be Made into Movie by LEGO Movie Directors

There's a cool podcast over at Fox21 Studios called Serial, which follows the investigation of a murder from start to finish. Compelling in its reporting, many follow it with all the devotion of an episodic TV show. Well now Serial is evolving into just that, thanks to Fox21 studios and the directors of the upcoming Star Wars Han Solo spinoff movie.

“From the very first week of Serial’s release last fall, everyone at Fox 21TVS was obsessed with the podcast. One year later, thanks to the incredible passion of Chris and Phil, who flew to New York and shared their vision with Sarah, Julie, Alissa and Ira [behind the podcast] for what the series could be, we’re moving forward on this exciting project. We are confident we’ll attract a spectacular writer and look forward to pitching it to outlets very soon.”

Following the tragic tale of high school senior Hae Min Lee, who disappeared from school back in 1999, Serial is a PBS-like news magazine in the style of 60 Minutes, produced and hosted by Sarah Koenig and her podcast partner Julie Snyder.  

“Serial tells one story - a true story - over the course of an entire season. Each season, we'll follow a plot and characters wherever they take us. And we won’t know what happens at the end until we get there, not long before you get there with us.”

Serial exhaustively follows the presumed murder of the young girl by her boyfriend. When it premiered as a podcast in 2014, it became a sensation, and won a Peabody Award.

At that time, The LEGO Movie directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, and in between developing a Han Solo chapter of Disney's upcoming Star Wars spinoff series, and a sequel to The LEGO Movie (not to mention helping shepard The Flash movie), Miller and Lord have pitched a TV adaption of Serial to Fox 21 Television studios.

“Chris and Phil take an unexpected approach to telling stories and that is so appealing to us at Serial,” Snyder told Deadline. “Developing a show with them is exciting because we feel like we speak the same language, only they’re smarter than us.” 

The series will be co-produced by Lord and Miller, along with Koenig and Snyder,  and will likely not be based on the Hae Min Lee case, but will find another murder to launch the series, and I'm not really sure if it's going to be a drama or series in the reality style.

The latter seems to be likely since that is the essence of the podcast, a reporter news magazine style look at a murder case with an investigative vibe.

Listening to the podcast, it's easy to see why. It's compelling, you can hear the words of the actual killer and his friends about doing the deed and covering it up. And frankly, I think it would work either way as a drama or a reality show, and it just screams a something that would show up on same network that has Gotham and the return of The X-Files. Or on CBS with a 60 Minutes lead in.

Stay tuned for further details on Serial, plus check out the podcast here.

Hat Tip - Deadline