Chris Rock to star in new season of FX crime drama 'Fargo'

Reuters
FILE PHOTO - Actor Chris Rock speaks to the media on the red carpet during the premiere of " The Week Of " in Manhattan, New York, U.S., April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Reuters) - Comedian Chris Rock will star in a fourth season of the FX network's Emmy-winning crime drama "Fargo" in a story about two 1950s crime families that have traded their eldest sons, the network announced on Friday.

Production on the new instalment will start in 2019, FX Networks Chief Executive John Landgraf said at a Television Critics Association event, where networks promote upcoming shows.

The season will be set in Kansas City, Missouri, at a time when the Midwest was dealing with clashes between Europeans who had emigrated to the United States and African Americans who had left the U.S. South to escape discrimination, Landgraf said.

Rock will play the head of an African-American family who surrenders his oldest boy to his enemy - an Italian - to keep an uneasy peace, Landgraf said.

The "Fargo" television series was adapted from Joel and Ethan Coen's 1996 Oscar-winning film of the same name. It won the Emmy award for best limited series in 2014.

Four-time Emmy winner Rock is a stand-up comedian who created and produced the TV sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," based on his own life, which ran from 2005 to 2009. He also has appeared in films including "Lethal Weapon 4" and "The Longest Yard" and has hosted the Academy Awards.

FX is owned by 21st Century Fox.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine)