CANNES: David Simon, the creator of "The Wire", is working on a new television drama series about the Spanish Civil War, the producers told AFP Tuesday.
Simon has teamed up with thriller writers Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos, who both worked with him on the American series, widely regarded one of the best ever made.
Barcelona-based Mediapro confirmed that Simon was developing the new series called "A Dry Run", which follows the mostly American members of the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington battalions who volunteered to fight on the Republican side during the bloody conflict.
"The project is still at a very early stage of development. We can confirm that they are working on a series of about six hours but that could change," said a spokeswoman for Mediapro, the makers of the hit series "The Young Pope" starring Jude Law.
The US battalions fought as part of the International Brigade of volunteers from all over the world who flocked to Spain to combat the rise of fascism.
They were used as shock troops and suffered particularly heavy casualties. The Lincoln Battalion alone lost two-thirds of its strength in the Battle of Jarama in 1937.
They also took part in the Ebro offensive before having to flee Spain in 1939 after the Republicans were defeated by the Nationalists led by the dictator General Francisco Franco.
Simon said their story is a "compelling and tragic narrative" which became "a dry run for the maelstrom to come" in World War II.
"The Spanish struggle against fascism and the misuse of capitalism as a bulwark to totalitarianism represents the pre-eminent political narrative of the 20th century and of our time still," the writer told the trade daily, Variety.