Rust, previously titled American Rust, received a straight to series order at Showtime. The show had received a straight to series order at USA Network in 2017, however the series had a cast contingency attached to the order and producers were unable to find a famous enough actor for the lead role at the time.
The show is based off of the American Rust novel by Philipp Meyer. The story follows a chief of police, Del Harris, in a small southwest Pennsylvania town as the son of the woman Harris loves is accused of murder. Harris is placed in a compromising position as he decides how far he is willing to go to protect them. Rust has been described as a family drama set to explore the tattered American dream.
Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) will star in the series as Del Harris in addition to his work as an executive producer. The actor is critically acclaimed with five Emmy nominations, winning in Best Lead Actor for The Newsroom and Best Supporting Actor for Godless, numerous Golden Globe nominations for his performances in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Something Wild and The Squid and the Whale, and The Newsroom, and he is a three-time individual Screen Actors Guild Award nominee.
Daniels will executive produce alongside Dan Futterman (Gracepoint) who will write multiple episodes. Futterman has earned Academy Award nominations for the Best Adapted Screenplay category for writing Capote and in Best Original Screenplay for co-writing Foxcatcher. Daniels and Futterman have worked together before on the 2018 Hulu miniseries The Looming Tower, which received four Emmy nominations, including a Best Actor in a Limited Series nomination for Daniels. Also producing are Michael De Luca (The Social Network) and Elisa Ellis from Platform One Media which is co-producing the series with Showtime.
Gary Levine, the Co-President of Entertainment for Showtime Networks, said “Jeff Daniels is a bona fide giant on stage and screen, and Dan Futterman is a special writer and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have them together at Showtime. With vibrant characters caught in an unpredictable murder mystery, Rust will tell the relevant and touching human story of the corrosion of the American dream.”
It is unknown when production will begin on Rust, but it likely wouldn’t be until late this year or sometime next year. Daniels is currently on Broadway playing Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin’s adaption of To Kill a Mockingbird. Daniels’ last show in New York is set for November 3rd, 2019.