By Showtime announced its commitment to Intelligence, described as a “spy thriller… based on real stories from around the world” coming from Mark Boal. Producer and writer behind Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, and once attached to the long-gestating Uncharted film adaptation, Boal is set to direct, write, and executive produce the series.
Depicting the ways in which “espionage intersects with politics, finance, [and] media,” the first season is geared to focus on the lead-up to and behind-the-scenes workings of the 2016 U.S. election. Oh boy.
Return seasons, should Intelligence find a cosy home and a renewal at Showtime, would focus on other factual stories, potentially further back in history. When the actual news doesn’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, I guess it makes sense that Boal’s show wouldn’t.
Not only an award winning screenwriter for film, Boal has had a career as an established journalist, with pieces appearing in Rolling Stone and The Village Voice, among other publications. Intelligence will be his first television series, and will be co-produced by Megan Ellison, whose Annapurna Pictures produced Bigelow’s films. TV vets Alan Poultries (Six Feet Under) and Jason Horwitch (Berlin Station) are also set to produce.
Most recently, Boal is credited on the screenplay for Triple Frontier, the film by JC Chandor (A Most Violent Year, Margin Call) streaming now on Netflix.
Showtime Sets ‘Intelligence’ Spy Series from ‘Hurt Locker’ Writer-Producer Mark Boal [Variety]