Given that he doesn’t necessarily look or act like a traditional idea of a leading man, the enduring stardom of Jesse Eisenberg is a pleasing thing. It’s now 15 years since we first saw him on screen, in Dylan Kidd’s “Roger Dodger,” and he’s consistently made strong choices that have kept him on the A-list, whether it’s working with acclaimed auteurs like Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach and David Fincher, excelling in smaller indies like Kelly Reichardt’s “Night Moves,” Richard Ayoade’s “The Double” or James Ponsoldt’s “The End Of The Tour,” or selling out while holding onto his credibility in “Now You See Me” or “Zombieland” (though we’ll skip over ‘Batman v Superman‘).
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Eisenberg’s also a writer, having had off-Broadway plays and pieces in The New Yorker, and he’s now going to combine these two sides of his life, and on the small screen, teaming, per The Hollywood Reporter, with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot for a new TV comedy. The show, entitled “The Market,” will see Eisenberg play a young man whose widowed father moves to Pittsburgh to live with him, only for both men to lose their markets in the difficult economy.
Eisenberg will not only star in the project, but also write, direct and executive-produce alongside Abrams and Bad Robot’s Ben Stephenson. There’s no network yet attached, but we’re sure plenty will be lining up with a package like this (FX seems like an obvious home for something like this, but we’re sure the streaming services will be keen, too). More news as and when the project finds a home: in the meantime, you can next see Jesse Eisenberg in “Justice League.” Or, you know, not.