Octavia Spencer To Star In Drama Thriller Series “Are You Sleeping” For ApplePosted by Wilson Morales
January 3, 2018
Oscar winner Octavia Spencer is attached in the lead role for Apple’s scripted drama thriller series “Are You Sleeping.”
Created and written by Nichelle Tramble Spellman (“The Good Wife,” “Justified”), the series will be produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Chernin Ent/Endeavor Content.
The series is based on Kathleen Barber’s novel of the same name, which gives a glimpse into the obsession with true crime podcasts and “challenges its viewers to consider the consequences when the pursuit of justice is placed on a public stage.”
Here’s the official description of Barber’s book from Amazon:
Josie Buhrman has spent the last ten years trying to escape her family’s reputation and with good reason. After her father’s murder thirteen years prior, her mother ran away to join a cult and her twin sister Lanie, once Josie’s closest friend and confidant, betrayed her in an unimaginable way. Now, Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, and that’s where she intends to stay.
The only problem is that she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past—starting with her last name.
When investigative reporter Poppy Parnell sets off a media firestorm with a mega-hit podcast that reopens the long-closed case of Josie’s father’s murder, Josie’s world begins to unravel. Meanwhile, the unexpected death of Josie’s long-absent mother forces her to return to her Midwestern hometown where she must confront the demons from her past—and the lies on which she has staked her future.
It’s now in development at Apple’s video programming unit headed by Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg.
Chernin Entertainment and Endeavor Content will also produce. Sarah Koenig, host and creator of “Serial,” is on board to consult on the series.
This marks the fourth series in the works from Apple alongside a morning show drama starring Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, the “Amazing Stories” reboot from Steven Spielberg and Bryan Fuller, and a new space drama from “Battlestar Galactica” and “Outlander” showrunner Ronald D. Moore.
