How did HBO get an All-Star cast for Empire Falls?

I'm an hour in and about the most exciting thing that's happened is Philip Seymour Hoffman showed up.

Ed Harris, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Helen Hunt, Robyn Wright Penn... I don't get it.

This series is a snoozefest.

The original source material won its author, Richard Russo, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2002. Filming it was considered a very high-prestige project for HBO during its Sopranos era. I liked the novel a lot. I don't think I've watched the series.

I used to have HBO, but Verizon dropped it from my package (and didn't lower the price, IIRC).

Thanks, OP. I want to check it out. I'd rather be bored by a series starring these actors than watching some overhyped, more recent series.

The book is great as is the show.

I attended a Q&A with Fred Schepisi and asked him about it. He said Paul Newman wanted to star in the adaptation and either he brought it to Fred or they had the same agent. He was very complimentary about Newman, Joanne Woodward and Ed Harris. But he kept mum on Philip Seymour Hoffman!