the miraculous year

HBO's 'The Miraculous Year' is piling on an already star-studded cast, adding Susan Sarandon, according to EW.com's The Ausiello Files.

Sarandon will play Patty Atwood, the "director/choreographer of the play-within-the-show." The actress is no stranger to television, having made a guest appearance on 'ER' last year, and has appeared on 'Rescue Me.'

Earlier this month, Lee Pace ('Pushing Daisies') and Linus Roache ('Law & Order') were added to the cast, joining Hope Davis, Frank Langella, Patti LuPone, and Tony winner Eddie Redmayne. Norbert Leo Butz plays the self-destructive Broadway composer at the heart of the story.

A few weeks from now, March 7th to be exact, Kathryn Bigelow may be the first woman to ever win the Academy Award for Best Director. The odds are in her favor, especially after winning the DGA competition. Therefore, the announcement that Bigelow will direct the HBO pilot, 'The Miraculous Year,' is a coup for the cable net.

'The Miraculous Year' is the story of a Broadway composer who's popular and successful, but self-destructive, and how he views his eccentric family. Screenwriter John Logan is doing the script, and he's also executive producing with Lydia Pilcher. Logan has worked with HBO before on another show business oriented project, 'RKO 281' which told the story of Orson Welles' battle to create 'Citizen Kane.'

Kathryn Bigelow's followup to her award-winning film 'The Hurt Locker' will be on the small screen.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bigelow has been tapped to direct 'The Miraculous Year,' a new drama pilot for HBO. Penned by Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan, the pilot surrounds a New York family "as seen through the lens of a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer." Filming is said to begin in either May or June.