FOT, Hungary — The book that has won Ken Follett the most critical, and eventually popular, acclaim is a nearly 1,000-page novel about the construction of an English cathedral in the 12th century.
Now, “The Pillars of the Earth” is being turned into a Ridley Scott-produced miniseries starring Donald Sutherland, Ian McShane and Rufus Sewell. Shot in Hungary and Austria, it is to air by June.
Follett said that while he had received offers to turn the book into a two- to four-hour film, only Scott was willing to commit to an extended version that would capture the book’s complexities. The producers financed the project independently, and the question of who will eventually broadcast the eight-hour series — which can be shown in four or eight parts — is still to be determined.
The Associated Press
