'Z: The Beginning Of Everything' Trailer: Christina Ricci Is Zelda Fitzgerald In The Amazon Series

There are currently two competing Zelda Fitzgerald biopics in the works. Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson are attached to play the iconic and troubled author and wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Neither film has been shot yet, but ten episodes of Z: The Beginning of Everything, which stars Christina Ricci (Black Snake Moan), are already in the can and debuting next month on Amazon.

Below, watch the Z: The Beginning of Everything trailer.

The series is an adaptation of Therese Anne Fowler's "Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald." The biopic begins with Zelda meeting F. Scott Fitzgerald in Alabama in 1918. The series depicts the couple's intense and rocky relationship, as well as the alcoholism and personal struggles that led to Zelda's tragic death in a hospital fire at the age of 48, which was 16 years after her one and only novel, "Save Me the Waltz," was published.

The series co-stars David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck), Jamie Anne Allman (The Killing), Jordan Dean (Not Fade Away), and, playing F. Scott Fitzgerald, David Hoflin (American Crime). The series doesn't shy away from showing "The Great Gatsby" and "This Side of Paradise" claimed a few of Zelda's ideas as his own.

Here's the Z: The Beginning of Everything trailer:

Episodes of Z: The Beginning of Everything are directed by Mike Barker, Neasa Hardiman, and Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson, most famous for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, directed the pilot which debuted on Amazon over a year ago. Nelson has made some fine films in the past, including The Grey Zone, O, and, his most accomplished feature, Leaves of Grass, a wonderfully melancholic comedy.

Clearly, the Nelson-directed pilot was one of the company's more successful pilots, now that Z: The Beginning of Everything is a series. The high-energy of the trailer and the contrast of good times and bad feels right for the character and time period — although the trailer's pace, and the show's poster (below), are likely to draw a comparison or two to Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby adaptation.

I'm curious to see Ricci star in her own show again after the canceled Pan Am. She's shown such a wide range as an actress with her early work and films like Black Snake Moan, Monster, Sleepy Hollow, and, a movie and performance I'll go to bat for, Speed Racer. She's a good actress who's often been unafraid of challenging or tricky material.

Here's the official synopsis:

Z: The Beginning of Everything is a bio-series of the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, Southern Belle turned flapper, writer and icon of modern feminism. Starting right before Zelda meets unpublished writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1918, Z dives into the fascinating life of a woman ahead of her time and the story of the most famous, and infamous, couple of the Roaring 1920s.

Z: The Beginning of Everything is available to stream starting January 27th.