Julia Roberts is coming home to Amazon. Deadline confirmed on Wednesday that the streaming service has picked up the upcoming series Homecoming for two seasons. The half-hour drama starring the Oscar winner was reportedly a hot commodity in a competitive situation among a number of networks. The series comes from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, who will serve as the director and executive producer.
Homecoming is based on Gimlet Media’s popular fictional podcast with the same name that recently came out in November. The series will be written by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, who are the c0-creators of the breakout podcast. The psychological thriller drama series will follow a caseworker at a secret government facility, played by Roberts, and a soldier that is anxious to return to a normal and civil lifestyle.
The podcast version of Homecoming stars Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer, Oscar Isaac, Amy Sedaris and David Cross. Kenner voices the role of the caseworker, while Isaac portrays the soldier. Season 1 of the podcast was critically acclaimed and was even named a finalist at the 2016 Peabody Awards. The highly anticipated second seasons airs today, July 19.
Homecoming is the second big drama to be picked up by Amazon this year. Deadline reported in November that the streaming service picked up David O.Russell’s currently untitled mafia crime series starring Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore.
The Amazon original series will act as Roberts’ first starring role on a television series. Her previous work on the small screen includes guest roles on Friends, Law & Order, Freedom: A History of US, and a starring role in HBO’s film The Normal Heart. Her film appearances include Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Ocean’s Eleven, Eat Pray Love, and August: Osage County.
Roberts is also set to appear in HBO’s upcoming limited series Today Will Be Different. TVLine reported in June that Roberts will star in the adaption of the novel by author Maria Semple. The actress will play Eleanor Flood, a woman that is determined to live her life to its fullest as unexpected occurrences consistently get in the way. The series will take place over the short time period of a single day. Roberts is confirmed to produce the series, while Semple will write the script.
There has not yet been any confirmation of which series will premiere first, but one thing is for sure. Fans of Roberts will be seeing a lot more of the well-known actress on the small screen soon.