‘The Debut’ Star Jesse Eisenberg’s Next Project Is an A24 TV Series About the Birth of the Culture Wars

Jesse Eisenberg has spent the past few years reinventing himself as one of Hollywood’s most distinctive filmmakers, and his next move is taking him somewhere new. After earning an Oscar-winning screenplay for ‘A Real Pain’, which he also directed, the actor-turned-writer is now setting his sights on television.

The timing of the reveal came during a celebratory moment. Eisenberg’s latest feature, ‘The Debut’, closed the 70th BFI London Film Festival on October 18 with its UK premiere at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, marking his return to the festival after ‘A Real Pain’ screened there in 2024.

While walking the red carpet, Eisenberg told The Hollywood Reporter that his next project is a TV series he wrote for A24 and former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice. The show follows an 18-year-old girl in the fall of 2002, and as he put it, “It’s about the beginning of the culture wars that we’re in now.”

In typical self-deprecating fashion, he added that the series isn’t pretentious or overly political, before joking that maybe it is and leaving that judgment to the audience. Reports indicate he has already written 6 episodes.

The project is based on one of Eisenberg’s own short stories. According to Deadline, it centers on a young woman whose beliefs are challenged by new ideas and relationships, and A24 is expected to take it out to potential buyers in the coming weeks.

Eisenberg will write and executive produce the series, and he is also set to direct. That makes it his first television series in all 3 roles, a notable step for a creator who has mostly focused on features in recent years.

Jesse Eisenberg tells us details of his next project: A TV series following an 18-year-old girl in 2002. “It’s about the beginning of the culture wars that we’re in now.” #BFILondonFilmFestival https://t.co/eaXSVUXRTe

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 18, 2026

Eisenberg is no stranger to the small screen. He began his career in Fox’s 1999 comedy-drama ‘Get Real’ before shifting his focus to film, and more recently appeared in the 2022 FX limited series ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’.

He has also tried to bring his own writing to television before. An earlier plan to adapt his short story collection ‘Bream Gives Me Hiccups’ with Amazon and A24 ultimately did not move forward, which makes this new series a second shot at a longer canvas for his storytelling.

Meanwhile, ‘The Debut’ continues to build buzz. The musical comedy follows a shy woman unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical, who loses herself in the role under the spell of a strong-willed director.

Julianne Moore leads the cast alongside Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu and Bernadette Peters, with Eisenberg appearing in a minor role. He also wrote 7 original songs for the film and produced it alongside Emma Stone, Ali Herting and Dave McCary.

The story was inspired by Eisenberg’s own childhood in community theater, a world he credits with giving him a sense of family and home. Speaking on the red carpet, he said he loves the film more than anything he has ever made.

A24 will release ‘The Debut’ in North American theaters on December 11, while Lionsgate will handle the UK and Ireland release on January 15, 2027. Early reactions have been warm, with festival programmers calling it a raucously funny love letter to community theater.

Between a celebrated musical comedy and an ambitious TV series about the early 2000s, Eisenberg is clearly in a prolific creative stretch. His decision to explore the roots of today’s cultural divides through the eyes of a young woman suggests a project with plenty to say, wrapped in the personal, character-driven style audiences have come to expect from him.

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