Lifetime Pitches 'The Red Tent'

Another bible-themed longform project is heading to the small screen. Lifetime is going into production with The Red Tent, a two-night miniseries adaptation of the best-selling novel by Anita Diamant published in 1997. The White Queen star Rebecca Ferguson, Minnie Driver (About A Boy) and Homeland alumna Morena Baccarin lead the cast of the four-hour mini. Co-starring in the project, which begins production this month in Morocco, are Game Of Thrones‘ Iain Glen and Will Tudor as well as Debra Winger.

The Red Tent tells the story of Dinah (Ferguson), the daughter of Leah and Jacob, who is only briefly referenced in the Old Testament. The miniseries begins with Dinah’s happy childhood spent inside the red tent where only the women of her tribe are allowed to gather and share the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood.

“The Red Tent brings premium and popular elements to a unique and timeless story,” said Lifetime EVP Rob Sharenow. “It perfectly articulates our vision for Lifetime as the destination for epic movie events.” The Red Tent mini has been in development at Lifetime since 2011. Its green light coincides with a great interest in longform TV project with biblical themes following the the blockbuster success of The Bible miniseries on Lifetime sibling History and its feature offshoot Son Of God. A Bible sequel is in the works at NBC, National Geographic Channel has mini Killing Jesus coming up, WGN America has greenlighted 10-part event series Ten Commandments, and Fox just put in development Nazareth, an event series about Jesus’ formative years.

Directors of 'The Butler,' 'Arrested Development,' and 'Good Will Hunting' Sign Up for '10 Commandments' TV Series

WGN has announced the first five directors for a 10-part television series of modern interpretations of the Ten Commandments.

Lee Daniels (The Butler), Michael Cera (Arrested Development), Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting), Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street) and Jim Sheridan (In America), will all take turns giving their own interpretation of a particular commandment with the other directors to be announced at a later date.

Produced by Bruce Cohen (Silver Linings Playbook) and Bob Weinstein (Lord of the Rings), the show comes at a time when the cable network has begun expanding into original scripted programming. Weinstein and Cohen said that the directors were picked for their original and distinct directing styles.

"Each of these directors is acclaimed for their own unique brand of style and genre, so it's clear that we can expect 10 wildly different episodes from this series," Weinstein said as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

"With each helmer choosing his or her own creative team, it will be exciting to see their visions come together," said Cohen.

WGN President and GM Matt Cherniss has said that he saw the project as helping the channel to become a "destination network."