In what Deadline describes as “a very competitive situation,” Amazon Studios is coming together with Christy Hall and Scarlett Johansson for a Just Cause series.
Hall and Johansson are working on a new take on John Katzenbach’s 1992 novel, and have received a straight-to-series order for Prime Video.
Per Deadline, “the Just Cause book’s male protagonist, Miami newspaper editorial writer Matt Cowart, is undergoing a gender swap, with Johansson playing the series’ female lead Madison ‘Madi’ Cowart, a struggling reporter for a Florida newspaper sent to cover the final days of an inmate on death row.”
There was a previous adaptation of Just Cause in a 1995 film. Arne Glimcher directed, with a cast that included Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Capshaw, Ruby Dee, and Ed Harris. A surprise twist is that Johannson appeared in Warner Bros.’s 1995 adaptation of Katzenbach’s book in only her second film role, playing the daughter of Connery’s character.
The new take comes from Christy Hall, who co-developed and executive produced the 2020 Netflix series I’m Not OK With This, an adaptation of Charles Foreman’s graphic novel. Hall is crafting her directorial debut with Daddio, starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn.
Johansson recently wrapped her time with Marvel Studios with 2021’s Black Widow. She soon after beefed with Disney but later settled the pay dispute that arose from the film’s streaming release. The actress will next be seen in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.
