The Last Movie Stars: Ethan Hawke directs CNN Plus documentary on Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman

Ethan Hawke is directing a six-part documentary titled The Last Movie Stars that explores the lives of Hollywood power couple Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. 

CNN Films and HBO Max are backing the series, which will premiere exclusively on CNN Plus, the news network's subscription streaming service slated to debut later this year. It will be available later via HBO Max.

Woodward, aged 91, was regarded as one of the last major stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. A recipient of multiple awards, he is also the oldest surviving Oscar winner. Newman, who succumbed to cancer in 2008, was a celebrated actor, car racing enthusiast, philanthropist, and lifelong Democrat. He had the rare distinction of being just one of the very few actors to be nominated for an Oscar across five decades.

The Last Movie Stars uses interviews that were conducted as part of a long-abandoned project that Newman commissioned from friend and screenwriter Stewart Stern. 

At Newman's request, Stern interviewed Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Karl Malden, Sidney Pollack, Gore Vidal, Jacqueline Witte, Joanne Woodward, and others for a planned memoir.

Newman was also interviewed by Stern. They discussed his youth, his first marriage, his romance and life with Woodward, his personal demons, and the shattering loss of his son, Scott, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 28.

The Last Movie Stars has filmmaker Martin Scorsese serving as the executive producer.