Arrested Development actor Jason Bateman has signed on to direct and star in a new eight-episode Netflix series. The exciting new show will adapt David Gauvey Herbert’s 2021 Esquire feature Daddy Ball, where the central focus is feuding baseball dads.
Netflix and Bateman’s production firm Aggregate won the rights to the programme in a fierce auction involving a total of eight offers. It has been confirmed that the series’ title will not be Daddy Ball but will follow Herbert’s original story of the Long Island Inferno youth baseball team and their longstanding parental feud.
The Ozark star will co-executive produce the new series alongside Michael Costigan and Roxie Rodrigue, with David Klawans attached as a producer. The show has been described in press materials as a dark comedy.
Several other on-screen projects inspired by Herbert’s work are currently in the pipeline. One of his notable features, The Ballad of Ron & Dorinda, initially published in Esquire, has caught the attention of Jessie Nickson-Lopez, who is now working on adapting it for MRC.
Additionally, esteemed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is adapting Boss of the Beach for FX and Searchlight TV, and ABC Signature has plans in place to adapt Camp Shane.
Elsewhere, Bateman has adapted his popular podcast, SmartLess, which he co-hosts alongside Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, into a TV series titled SmartLess: On the Road. The mini-documentary series chronicles the trio’s tour across North America.
See the trailer for SmartLess: On the Road below.
