Brand New Cherry Flavor: Netflix series adds Levien, Orser, and Fischler

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Thirteen months after it was announced that Alita: Battle Angel herself Rosa Salazar will be starring in Netflix's horror thriller series Brand New Cherry Flavor, we finally have further proof that this show is actually going to happen. It has been announced that Salazar is being joined in the cast by Hannah Levien – whose credits include the films Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark and Blood Brothers, plus the TV shows The Magicians, Supernatural, and Siren – and "that guy" character actors Leland Orser and Patrick Fischler. Orser counts Seven, Alien: Resurrection, and The Guest among his many credits, while Mad Men, Lost, and Red State are a few of Fischler's 100+ credits. Surprisingly, this will mark the first time Orser and Fischler are both working on the same project.

Based on a novel by Todd Grimson (you can pick up a copy of that HERE), Brand New Cherry Flavor is written by Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion. The eight-episode series will tell the story of 

Lisa Nova (Salazar), an aspiring film director in the sun-drenched but seamy world of 1990 Los Angeles who embarks on a mind-altering journey — from the streets of Beverly Hills to the forests of Brazil — of supernatural revenge.

Here's the description of Grimson's novel:

In the world of Hollywood’s panderers, philanderers, has-beens, and sycophants, aspiring screenwriter and director Lisa Nova considers herself a rising star who can transcend the lies, cheating, and hypocrisy for the sake of her art. When she is coldly betrayed by one leering producer too many, she turns to Boro, the enigmatic leader of a local biker gang, to exact vengeance—and she gets more than she bargained for. It begins with the strange tattoos that appear overnight on her skin like stigmata, followed by the hallucinations of ancient cults of the undead. Lisa soon finds herself contending with white jaguars and cannibalistic demons rising from the grave, and the lines between dreams and reality quickly dissolve in this surreal and exhilarating blend of satire and the macabre.

Levien is taking on the recurring role of Christine, while Orser's character is named Mike Nathans and Fischler is playing Alvin Sender. Maybe those names will mean something to those who have read the book.

When the series was first announced, it was also said that Catherine Keener, Eric Lange, Jeff Ward, and Manny Jacinto are in the cast.

Brand New Cherry Flavor is a co-production of Netflix and UCP. Antosca is executive producing the show through his production banner Eat the Cat. Zion is also executive producing. Arkasha Stevenson, director of the third season of Antosca's Channel Zero, will be directing the first episode.