With the success of Better Call Saul (and Breaking Bad before that), AMC and Bob Odenkirk have formed a beautiful partnership. The cable network and actor are looking to keep a good thing going, and their next collaboration sounds promising.
AMC and Sony Networks Television are developing a six-episode miniseries adapting the memoir of former New York Times media columnist David Carr. Night of the Gun was released in 2008 and was Carr’s journalistic investigation into his past life, a significant chunk of which he barely remembered (or recalled a very skewed view of actual events) due to his heavy drug use at the time.
Carr approached the material as if he was writing a book about someone else, going back to Minneapolis to interview people in his life — relatives, ex-girlfriends, friends, co-workers, cops — about what occurred while he was addicted to cocaine and crack, notably how terribly he treated those around him, the writing career he squandered, and how dangerous he was as a single parent of twin daughters.
The New York Times Magazine ran an excerpt from the book before it was published, which is available online. Here’s one clip:
“The Nova, a junker with a bad paint job my brother bought me out of pity, shuddered to a stop, and I saw two sleeping children in the rearview, the fringe of their hoods emerging in outline against the backseat as my eyes adjusted to the light. Teeny, tiny, itty-bitty, the girls were swallowed by the snowsuits. We should not have been there. But I was fresh out. I had nothing. I called Kenny.
“Anna was out, and I could not bear to leave them home, but I was equally unable to stay put. So here we were, one big, happy family, parked outside the dope house. Then came the junkie math. If I went inside the house, I could get what I needed in 5 minutes, 10 minutes tops. The twins would sleep, dreaming their little baby dreams where their dad is a nice man, where the car rides end at a playground.”
That was actually a pivotal moment for Carr, who realized he had to clean himself up and check into rehab after putting his infant children in jeopardy. (But he didn’t go to rehab as soon as he remembered, one of the many revelations his investigation made clear to him.)
Carr became editor of the Twin Cities Reader before moving on to the same position at the Washington City Paper. He eventually wrote for The Atlantic and New York magazine, covering media. That led to the New York Times, where he was a highly influential media and culture columnist.
In February 2015, Carr died suddenly due to complications from lung cancer. He was just 58 years old. The man almost literally lived two different lives. Last fall, the Times created a two-year fellowship in Carr’s name. Earlier this year, the newspaper awarded that fellowship to three writers, one of whom was Greg Howard, formerly of Deadspin.
The Night of the Gun will be adapted by Shawn Ryan, best known for creating FX’s The Shield, who will also be the series’ executive producer. Odenkirk will portray Carr, which gives him another meaty role in what’s become an impressive acting résumé during the past decade.
“I read David’s story, The Night of the Gun, when it came out and was wildly entertained by his saga,” Odenkirk told The Hollywood Reporter‘s Michael O’Connell. “It’s a story of survival filled with pain, crack, journalistic righteousness, abandoned cars, crooks, lies, and then there’s the two little girls who saved his life; it’s overstuffed with humanity. Shawn Ryan is the man to explore this real anti-hero story. I hope to do justice to David’s intellect and his scrappy nature. It’s gonna be crazy … if we do it right.”
The miniseries is in the very early developmental stages, so there’s no guarantee it will all come together. But given the creative power behind it — along with AMC’s increasing willingness to produce bold TV dramas such as Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead and Preacher, while also making a push into miniseries with The Night Manager — we could be seeing Odenkirk bring Carr’s story to life on the small screen relatively soon.
