Werner Herzog to Direct TV Series on Henry Ford's Failed Amazon City Fordlandia

Werner Herzog will direct a television series about Fordlandia, Henry Ford's failed 1920s rubber plantation city in the Amazon rainforest. The project, produced by Herzog alongside Ashok Amritraj of Hyde Park Entertainment, Addison Mehr, and Priya Amritraj, adapts Greg Grandin's 2009 book "The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City." Oscar-nominated screenwriter Christopher Wilkinson, known for "Nixon" (1995) directed by Oliver Stone, will write the script. Fordlandia was launched in 1928 and collapsed within six years due to worker revolts against restrictive American-style living conditions and brutal labor. Amritraj drew parallels to Donald Trump's nationalist politics, calling the story of a tycoon imposing his American vision on the world "extremely relevant today." This marks Herzog's third TV series after "On Death Row" (2012-2013) and "Filmstunde" (1991-1992). The project returns Herzog to the Amazon, where he shot his 1981 masterpiece "Fitzcarraldo" starring Klaus Kinski as a rubber baron dreaming of building an opera house.