Filmmaker Michael Sarnoski (“Pig,” “A Quiet Place: Day One”) has been tapped to direct and executive-produce the new HBO series “The Chain,” with him reuniting with British actress Jodie Comer (“28 Years Later”), who will be playing Rachel Klein in the gestating thriller show.
It focuses on “a suburban mother who must consider the unthinkable when her daughter is kidnapped” and is based on the best-selling novel penned by author Adrian McKinty. Deadline had revealed the project update and Saronski’s joining up to get behind the camera. That’s not the only exciting side of things, as Damon Lindelof is behind the show as he’ll write (co-writing the pilot with Carly Wray), produce, and showrun the eight-episode HBO project after working with them on the Emmy-winning superhero series “Watchmen.”
Sarnoski previously worked with Comer on the upcoming Hugh Jackman-led A24 thriller “The Death of Robin Hood.” He’s also attached to direct a live-action feature adaptation of the mega-popular sci-fi Hideo Kojima-created video game “Death Stranding“ (also at A24) and was reportedly being courted by 20th Century Studios to helm the “Alien: Romulus” sequel after Fede Álvarez stepped aside from directing duties (but co-wrote the script).
A logline for the McKinty novel via Amazon:
It’s something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it’s a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn’t do as she’s told, the boy will die. “You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last.” Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act you’d have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago. But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning.
Other folks among the producing team consist of Michael Ellenberg for Media Res, Sarnoski, Shane Salerno, Breannah Gibson, and Joe Iberti. Also, McKinty serves as co-executive producer on “The Chain.”
We’re still waiting to hear about who else Lindelof will be enlisting to co-star with Comer in “The Chain,” given that the high-profile thriller show should end up attracting a slew of talented actors. “The Death of Robin Hood” heads to theatres on June 19, and looks to tackle a dark/gritty version of the Robin Hood lore.
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