Two reasons to get excited for Hulu‘s upcoming new series “The Looming Tower:” a grey-haired Michael Stuhlbarg and a bearded Peter Sarsgaard. On a less important note, the series seems to be a sort of 9/11 prequel, “an investigative thriller” detailing “the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s.” It is executive produced by documentarian Alex Gibney and “Capote” screenwriter Dan Futterman. Here’s the official synopsis:
Based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning book, The Looming Tower traces the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and how the rivalry between the FBI and CIA during that time may have inadvertently set the path for the tragedy of 9/11. The series follows members of the I-49 Squad in New York and Alec Station in Washington, D.C., the counter-terrorism divisions of the FBI and CIA, respectively, as they travel the world fighting for ownership of information while seemingly working toward the same goal – trying to prevent an imminent attack on U.S. soil.
Regarding the FBI-CIA conflict, Futterman goes so far as to tell USA Today, “ ossibly, had there been less personal animosity and more sharing of information, [9/11] might have been preventable.”
To those of you who are put off, or simply disinterested in, the premise of this show, allow me to remind you that it features Michael Stuhlbarg’s grey hair and Peter Sarsgaard’s heavy-duty beard. So get hype.
Also starring Jeff Daniels, Bill Camp, Tahar Rahim, and Alec Baldwin, “The Looming Tower” hits Hulu on February 28th.