Zazie Beetz and Tom Hardy are set to star in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama series Lazarus. The series is based on Lars Kepler’s book series, Joona Linna, which has been praised by varios outlets and sold more than 17M copies worldwide. Øystein Karlsen is set to write, executive produce and direct the series.
Lazarus begins withan emaciated young man who is found wandering along a train track, thirteen years after he and his sister went missing. They were presumed dead and victims of the notorious serial killer Jurek Walter. To find the sister, police detective Saga Bauer must go undercover in the maximum-security psychiatric hospital where Jurek Walter has been kept since his arrest years ago.
Hardy is playing Jurek Walter and Beetz is portraying Inspector Saga Bauer. The characters relationship is described as a Hannibal Lector-Clarice Stalling type.
The project, which is nearing development, is a co-production between A+E Studios and Range Studios and being sold to Apple.
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Hardy Son & Baker comprised of Hardy and longtime producing partner Dean Baker will produce, their production company behind the FX series Taboo. Also EPs are Beetz & David Rysdahl, Kepler (Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril), Niclas Salomonsson, A+E Studios (Barry Jossen, Tana Jamieson) and Range Studios (Heather Kadin, Peter Micelli and Jack Whigham).
Beetz’s credits include FX’s Atlanta, Bullet Train, Joker, Nine Days, The Harder They Fall, Deadpool 2, Seberg, and more. Up next she will star in the crime drama mini-series “Full Circle.” The series will be available to stream on HBO Max this year. She is currently in production for the upcoming comedy series “History of the World: Part II,” produced by Mel Brooks and written by David Stassen. Beetz is also an EP on the series which is hitting Hulu on March 6.
Apple didn’t return request for comment.
(Originally read on Deadline)