Grammer will co-star with Matt Bomer in the drama, which is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel inspired by the life of Irving Thalberg, the late film mogul. The cast will also include Rosemarie DeWitt.

Billy Ray will direct the pilot based on his own script.

The project, according to Deadline, "centers on [Monroe] Stahr (Bomer), Hollywood’s first wunderkind studio executive in the 1930s as he climbs to the height of power pitting him against his mentor and current head of the studio, the brawny, imposing, charming and vain Pat Brady (Grammer), a character based on Louis B. Mayer. Having come from the streets, Brady has no intention of returning to his misfortune, and is determined to make sure his studio is successful, no matter what personal morals he compromises."

The novel was also the basis for a 1976 film, which featured direction by Elia Kazan and a screenplay by Harold Pinter. Robert De Niro and Robert Mitchum starred.

Filming is expected to begin at the end of February in Los Angeles.