Aaron Sorkin to Adapt To Kill a Mockingbird for Broadway

Posted on February 12, 2016

Aaron Sorkin is adapting Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird for the Broadway stage. The Oscar winning screenwriter and playwright and producer Soctt Rudin are determined to make the iconic novel a Broadway hit. The show is expected to be ready in time for the 2017-18 Broadway season.

According to The Hollywood Reporter the show will be directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific. Scott Rudin has produced such Broadway hits as A Raisin in the Sun, The Book of Mormon and This Is Our Youth. Most people think of Sorkin as a screenwriter, but he actually started out as a playwright. He wrote the play A Few Good Men, which he later turned into the hit film.

So can Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network) redeem Atticus Finch after his portrayal in last summer's Go Set a Watchman? Atticus has been a hero since To Kill a Mockingbird came out. But after Watchman, Atticus fans have been down in the dumps as he is revealed to be a racist. Watchman is set 20 years after the events in To Kill a Mockingbird, but the novel was supposedly written first. There was a great deal of controversy over the publication of the book, with questions about whether Harper Lee wanted the book published. But it sold millions of copies.

Sorkin's most recent film is Steve Jobs. The film was not nominated for Best Picture and Sorkin was snubbed in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for this year's Oscars. However, the stars of the film, Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, are both nominated for their performances in the film.