Starz Pick Up Rights To Watergate Scandal Gaslit Starring Julia Roberts

Starz announced today the anthology series pick up of Gaslit, which is set to start Julia Roberts and Sean Penn. The high-profile series adapted from Slate’s award-winning podcast “Slow Burn’s” first season about Watergate with showrunner Robbie Pickering (Mr. Robot). Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) will direct and executive produce.

The story will centre on Martha Mitchell, played by Roberts. A big personality with an even bigger mouth, Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell, played by Penn. Despite her party affiliation, she’s the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the Presidency and her personal life to unravel. As Attorney General, Mitchell is Nixon’s most trusted advisor and best friend. Temperamental, foulmouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife – he’ll be forced to choose between Martha and the President.

Gaslit is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates, to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes, to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The anthology series is the newest title from Starz who recently launched its #TakeTheLead initiative, the company’s comprehensive effort to deepen its existing commitment to narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences.

“I’m so happy to have the opportunity to share the heartbreaking, fascinating story of Martha Mitchell with the world,” said showrunner and executive producer Robbie Pickering. “Martha was the first and loudest voice to speak out against the bumbling criminality of a crooked Presidential istration and she was one of the most complicated public martyrs of the era. To find anyone willing to tell her story is a dream. To be making it with Sam, Julia, Sean, Matt, U and Starz seems impossible. I’m over the moon.”

Gaslit will air on STARZ in the U.S. and Canada and on its international streaming platform Starzplay across Europe, Latin America and Japan. The series is set to start production this spring.