BBC Studios is developing a new drama about the last six months of Marilyn Monroe's life with viewers promised that the series will tackle "big themes such as power, love, loyalty and politics".
The series will be based on Keith Badman's biography The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe: The Shocking True Story and adapted for the screen by Dan Sefton (The Good Karma Hospital, Trust Me).
Monroe - born Norma Jeane Mortenson - died in August 1962 at the age of 36 with her death ruled a probable suicide.
"Marilyn Monroe died at just 36 years of age," said BBC Studios announcing the series. "One of the world's most famous and enduring icons and the embodiment of the 1950s sex symbol, this last period of her life saw her seeking to assert herself with her Hollywood bosses. It also saw her increasingly erratic behaviour and dependence on alcohol and medication plunge her glittering film career into decline."
"Marilyn's desire to be taken seriously as an actress and her battle with the powerful men who control the studio system is sadly as relevant today as it ever was," said screenwriter Sefton, who also described Monroe's life as "an incredible true story".
Anne Pivcevic, executive producer, BBC Studios, added: "We are delighted to be developing this ambitious drama with Dan, which tackles big themes such as power, love, loyalty and politics.
"In the last few months of her life, Marilyn was sincerely loved, callously betrayed, cynically filled with hope and ultimately cruelly abandoned."
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