After wrapping his third writer-directed feature, The Debut – a Julianne Moore vehicle that premiered at the London Film Festival – Jesse Eisenberg is turning his attention back to the small screen. He is developing an as-yet-untitled drama for A24 that will examine the nascent culture wars through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl in the autumn of 2002. The project is set to be written, executive-produced and ultimately directed by Eisenstein himself, with industry veteran Peter Rice attached as an executive producer.
What the series will explore
The narrative springs from one of Eisenberg’s own short stories, though the exact source remains unconfirmed. Some observers suspect it may be the Harper Jablonski tale from his 2016 collection Bream Gives Me Hiccups which follows a freshman grappling with academic life. Regardless of the precise literary seed, the series will follow a young woman whose emerging ideas and new relationships clash with the prevailing beliefs of her environment, dramatizing the early moments of the 21st-century cultural clash that would later dominate headlines.
Creative pedigree behind the project
Eisenberg’s résumé bridges both indie cinema and mainstream television. He first rose to fame as a child actor before joining the main cast of Fox’s comedy-drama Get Real in 1999. He later earned an Academy Award nomination for embodying Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network and secured an Oscar for writing the 2024 feature A Real Pain. As a filmmaker, he has already helmed two previous features – When You Finish Saving the World (2022) and A Real Pain – and his most recent directorial effort, The Debut marks his third. On television, Eisenberg appeared in FX’s limited series Fleishman Is In Trouble (2022) and previously pursued a pilot adaptation of his short-story collection for Amazon and A24 a decade ago.
Peter Rice brings a complementary set of credentials. After senior stints at Disney and Fox, he was recently appointed chief content officer at Netflix. While his new role will keep him from day-to-day involvement in the A24 series, he is expected to retain his executive-producer credit, reflecting his role in shepherding the project to its present stage. Netflix’s own slate already includes high-profile A24 collaborations such as Beef the forthcoming Millie Bobby Brown-David Harbour spy drama, and Trigger Point starring Joel Edgerton, suggesting the streaming giant could be a natural home for the new series.
Industry context and potential distribution
The partnership between Eisenberg and Rice arrives at a moment when A24 is expanding its television footprint beyond its cult-film heritage. The studio’s recent success with narrative-driven, auteur-led series has attracted major streaming platforms looking for distinctive voices. Netflix, already home to several A24 titles, may see the Eisenberg-Rice project as a strategic addition, especially given its focus on a formative period of American sociopolitical tension – a theme that resonates with the platform’s global audience.
Other notable executives attached to A24-originated series include Dan Lin, who oversees Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix, and Ori Marmur, an EP for Prime Video’s The Boys. Their involvement underscores the studio’s growing clout in the streaming arena and foreshadows a possible multi-platform rollout for the Eisenberg series.
While a cast list, official title and release window have not been disclosed, the series is slated to be shopped to buyers in the coming weeks, according to industry trackers. Should Netflix secure the rights, the series could join a roster of critically acclaimed A24 shows that blend independent sensibility with mainstream reach.
