Filmmaker Steve McQueen To Direct Anthology Series ‘Small Axe’ Coming To BBC & Amazon

After his Oscar-winning work on the film “12 Years a Slave,” filmmaker Steve McQueen took five years to work on his next project, last year’s “Widows.” Luckily for film and TV fans, it would appear that the director is lining up his next work in short order, but you likely won’t be able to see it on the big screen.

According to Variety, McQueen is prepping work on the upcoming limited TV series “Small Axe.” And best of all, the series has already lined up distribution in North America and the UK thanks to a partnership between the BBC and Amazon. “Small Axe” tells the story of London’s West Indian community and the troubles that were faced during the 1960s.

READ MORE: Steve McQueen Says Current Era Of Peak TV Is “Just Bad”: “There’s So Much Money And So Little Ideas”

However, unlike your typical limited TV series, “Small Axe” is going to be set up as five separate stories told over the course of six “episodes.” The first story will comprise the first two hours, with the remaining episodes devoted to individual stories, making the series a true anthology.

This small detail seems to be how McQueen justifies working on a TV series, especially after comments he’s made in recent years. Just last October, the filmmaker seemingly went against many of his peers by talking badly about the recent advent of Peak TV. Unlike Steven Spielberg, Ava DuVernay, Nicolas Winding Refn, and others, McQueen has stayed away from TV work after experiencing a bad time of it when he was trying to bring a show to HBO called “Codes of Conduct.”

READ MORE: Steve McQueen On ‘Widows,’ Viola Davis, The Politics Of Chicago & More [Interview]

“TV had its moment. It’s fodder now, isn’t it? It’s fodder. […] There was a moment in the ’90s or early 2000s when it was amazing. And now it’s just, ‘Get stuff done. We need stuff.’ I don’t know what’s happening now, but obviously the quality has gone down a little bit. There’s more of it, but less quality,” said McQueen.

But technically, even though “Small Axe” is a TV series, it is being set up like a series of short films. So, there’s that loophole that McQueen can use.

Either way, TV series, short films, whatever, we’re excited for McQueen to direct episodes of “Small Axe” and will be keeping an eye on this production.