George Jones & Tammy Wynette Series Coming w/ Jessica Chastain

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A movie based on the life of country music power couple George Jones and Tammy Wynette first announced in 2016 has now blossomed into a limited series and is moving forward. To be called George & Tammy, and based on the 2013 book The Three of Us: Growing Up with Tammy and George written by the couple’s only child, Georgette Jones, it has been picked up by Spectrum Originals, and will later be available on Paramount and ViacomCBS for streaming. There is no official release date just yet, but now it’s only a matter of “when,” not “if.”

Playing Tammy Wynette will be award-winning actress Jessica Chastain. To play George Jones is presumably Josh Brolin, who was originally announced as George when the project was first revealed, and is also a producer on the project. But somewhat strangely, Brolin is not mentioned in the leading role in the press release that went out Thursday, only Chastain.

“I have a bit of a past and when they were trying to figure out who might be best able to best play George Jones, they thought, ‘What about Brolin? Who’s been to jail in the last 10 years? Let’s pick Brolin!” Josh said in a Conan O’Brien interview in 2016. “I’m gonna do that with Jessica Chastain, who is gonna play Tammy Wynette. She’s amazing. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were married for six years between 1969 and 1975, but had a professional country music duet career for much longer. The relationship was both passionate and tempestuous, and will certainly make for quality drama, so much so they decided to extend it into a multi-part series. It will premiere on Spectrum as one of its original series for subscribers, and after a nine-month exclusive run, will appear on a not-yet-named ViacomCBS streamer and the Paramount Network.

David Hutkin and Bob Yari of 101 Studios are also executive producers. 101 is the same studio that is producing Paramount’s successful series Yellowstone. George & Tammy is being created by Abe Sylvia.

“I am humbled to bring this incredible story to life with the breadth it deserves and that the Charter platforms allow,” says Abe Sylvia. “Tammy Wynette is an American icon, and I can think of no one better to illuminate the woman behind the legend than Jessica Chastain. After having the honor of penning ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ for Freckle Films and Searchlight, I so look forward to another collaboration with her. This has indeed been a passion project for Andrew [Lazar], Josh [Brolin], and me.”

George Jones’ widow Nancy Jones is also said to be making a separate movie entitled No Show Jones about George’s life. 28 Entertainment out of Los Angeles was said to be producing the film, and Alan Wenkus—known for being the writer and researcher for the music biopic Straight Outta Compton—was writing the film. This information was announced in May of 2015.

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