American Remakes Of ‘The Slap’ and ‘Rake’ Are Imminent

Deadline are reporting that peacocking American network NBC have secured the rights to an adaptation of The Slap, the televised mini-series adapted from Christos Tsiolkas‘ best-selling, award-winning, dinner party fodder novel of the same name about what happens when you serve a potent cocktail of Pure Blonde, masculine posturing, petulant red-headed children and corporal punishment at suburban barbecues. Hint: serve chilled.

Brothers & Sisters creator and connoisseur of schmaltz Jon Robin Baitz is attached to write the adaptation, which will be produced by both Universal and the original Australian production company Matchbox Pictures. The Slap was one of last year’s best television offerings and was successful in making me question a lot of things about both myself and the Australian middle class. We all agreed it was very good. So did BAFTA and AACTA, who were not supporting Greek characters from the Manolis episode but are in fact acronyms for various academies of film and television award giving. Here’s a refresher course in The Slap, should you need it:

The Age are also reporting that Sony Pictures Television are developing an adaptation of Australian legal drama Rake, which stars a devilishly deshevelled Richard Roxburgh as Cleaver Greene, a barrister with impulse control issues. Rake is the ABC’s second most-watched program and regularly draws audiences of 800,000 well into its second season, with the prospect of a third and fourth on the way. Alan Ball also really likes it.

Greg Kinnear, who is attached to play Greene, has just the right amount of handsome hedonism required of the role; and when I say that I mean he looks about as appealing as the day old potato salad that will inevitably be served and left over from the barbecue that will be held in celebration of the fact that Australian television is not yet dead in the waters of Brynn Edelsten’s fungal-folliculitis-riddled hot tub. Success!

Americans have a horrible track record of adapting much-loved Australian television series. Fingers crossed this doesn’t happen again:

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