Jessica Chastain to Lead Apple Limited Series ‘The Savant’
Jessica Chastain is the latest A-lister to score her own show at Apple.
The Oscar-winning The Eyes of Tammy Faye actress will star in The Savant, an eight-episode limited series inspired by a true story published by Cosmopolitan.
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While Apple is remaining mum on details, Andrea Stanley — who is attached as a consultant on the Chastain show — penned a Cosmo story in August 2019 under the headline “Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?” that detailed a woman known as “The Savant,” an investigator whose job is to take down the country’s most violent men before they can carry out large-scale attacks.
Melissa James Gibson (Anatomy of a Scandal, The Americans) is on board to serve as showrunner on the series, which is a co-production between Fifth Season (formerly known as Endeavor Content) and Anonymous Content. Gibson is based at Fifth Season with an overall deal.
Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land) will direct and serve as exec producer alongside Gibson and Chastain, who produces via her Freckle Films banner. The deal extends Apple’s relationship with Anonymous Content following previous collaborations including Dickinson and The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Other exec producers include Freckle Films’ Kelly Carmichael and Cosmo editor-in-chief Jessica Giles. Brian Madden, who serves as senior vp development for Hearst Magazines, will produce.
For Chastain, meanwhile, The Savant marks her latest foray into television. She most recently starred in Showtime’s George & Tammy, earning a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG Award for her performance as Tammy Wynette. Her TV credits also include HBO’s Scenes From a Marriage. She’s repped by CAA and Mosaic.
Gibson is repped by CAA and Manage-ment. Heineman is with CAA, Cinetic Media and Sloss Eckhouse. Hearst Magazines is with WME.
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