'The Great Gatsby' gets a gender-swapped crime drama adaptation at NBC

NBC develops Gatsby, a modern police procedural inspired by 'The Great Gatsby', with a gender-swapped Nick Carraway

NBC is developing Gatsby, a modern-day police procedural inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, with a gender-swapped twist on one of its central characters.

The series comes from writers and executive producers Jake Coburn and Jason Tracey, with Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, attached to the project, Deadline reported on October 30.

The upcoming drama will centre on Det. Jay Gatsby, a charming investigator with a con artist’s ability to read human behaviour, and New York State Police Det. Nicole “Nicky” Carraway, a decorated officer who has always wanted to become a writer.

Nicky is a gender-swapped version of Nick Carraway, the narrator of Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel. In the original story, Nick moves to the fictional Long Island neighbourhood of West Egg, where he becomes acquainted with the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his attempts to rekindle his romance with Daisy Buchanan.

The new adaptation will reimagine the literary characters in a contemporary crime-solving setting, shifting the focus towards a police procedural format.

The Great Gatsby is widely regarded as one of the great American novels and has inspired several screen adaptations. Among the best-known are the 1974 film starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, and Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 version featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan.

Coburn previously worked on NBC’s The Hunting Party, serving as co-showrunner and executive producer. His other credits include The Endgame, Quantico and Gossip Girl.

Tracey most recently served as an executive producer on ABC’s RJ Decker. He also created and showran CSI: Vegas and worked on Elementary, Burn Notice and Cold Case.

No casting details or premiere date have been announced.