The Wire creator David Simon is developing a series set during the Spanish Civil War, Variety reported. Titled A Dry Run, the show will reportedly revolve around volunteers from the United States of America who travelled to Spain to support the Spanish Republican forces against General Francisco Franco and his rebel faction.
The series will trace the troops’ journey from their arrival in 1937 until their departure in 1939, when the war concluded with Franco’s victory and subsequent dictatorial reign. A Dry Run will be produced by Spanish company Mediapro.
The show has been envisioned as a six-hour-long miniseries, but that could change as the scripting progresses, Mediapro told Variety. A Dry Run will be written by George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane, who were also associated with The Wire, an acclaimed HBO crime drama. Simon was the head writer for that series.
The series will be shot primarily in English.
Simon told Variety that the show offers a “compelling and tragic narrative”. He said the “Spanish struggle against fascism and the misuse of capitalism as a bulwark to totalitarianism” are indicative of “the preeminent political narrative of the 20th century and of our time still... The events of 1936 to 1939 made clear that capitalism – while it may be an elemental tool for generating mass wealth – offers no moral answer to how people can live or how societies thrive”.
Mediapro founder Jaume Roures described A Dry Run as one of the “great projects for the coming months”. “Not only for the story...but also for what it means for us to work with David Simon, one of the best scriptwriters of recent years,” Roures told Variety.