Matt Smith has signed on to executive produce and star in an adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel The Death Of Bunny Munro.
The former Doctor Who star is swapping dragons and incest (not dragon incest though, even for HBO that seems a bit much) for… sex addiction. Smith is starring as the titular character, as well as executive producing, a TV adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel The Death Of Bunny Munro.
Smith’s Bunny, a self-professed lothario and a sex-addicted door-to-door salesman, will find himself a little out of his depth after his wife Libby dies and he is left with a 9-year-old son, Bunny Jr., to take care of. The two Bunnies embark on an epic road trip across southern England in this tale of grief.
The Death Of Bunny Munro is Cave’s second novel and was published in 2009. Cave has published several collections of essays, lyrics and poetry as well as the two novels, but The Death Of Bunny Munro marks the first screen adaptation of his written work. Cave is also on board the project on executive producing duties.
“To work alongside Nick Cave feels like a great honor,” Smith said of their partnership. “It’s a brilliant exploration of love, grief, and chaos. At its heart a deep, difficult, and tender story about a father and son, coping with loss and change.”
Smith was most recently seen as Daemon Targaryen in Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon, which is currently in production for a highly anticipated second season. He also appeared in Daniel Kokotajlo’s excellent Starve Acre, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, but does not yet have a release date. Keep your eyes peeled for this one though as our own James Harvey describes it as “a deeply atmospheric, aggressively Yorkshire (Yorkshireful? Yorkshireous?) folk horror movie, with all the trimmings you’d expect.”
Pete Jackson is writing the script for The Death Of Bunny Munro and Holiday’s Isabella Eklöf is directing the six-part series. Filming is expected to begin in Spring 2024 all across southern England. The series will be available on Sky Atlantic as well as streaming service NOW in the UK.