FX's "The Sparrow" (written by Scott Frank, directed by Johan Renck)

[Cremildo]

The Queen's Gambit co-creator Scott Frank is headed to FX for his next TV project.

The Disney-owned cable outlet is developing a limited series adaptation of Mary Doria Russell's novel The Sparrow. Frank will write all episodes of the project, and Johan Renck (Chernobyl) is attached to direct.

Published in 1996, The Sparrow follows a group of Jesuit priests and scientists, led by linguist Father Emilio Sandoz, that makes the first contact with extraterrestrial life. The Vatican then backs a secret mission to a faraway planet in order to prove the existence of God throughout the universe.

The mission, however, ends in disaster and Sandoz, the lone survivor, returns to Earth a broken man to face a Vatican inquiry into the now scandalous misadventure. [+]