A year and a half ago, we heard that True Detective director Cary Fukunaga was attached to a TNT television series based on Caleb Carr's 1994 novel The Alienist. At the time, it was expected that Fukunaga would be directing the pilot episode, but now that the production is starting to move forward, it has been revealed that Fukunaga will be executive producing the series, while the pilot will be helmed by his fellow executive producer Jakob Verbruggen, whose credits include the TV shows Code 37, The Fall, London Spy, House of Cards, and Black Mirror.
Cast to star in the series are Daniel Brühl (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR) and Luke Evans (DRACULA UNTOLD). Brühl will be playing the "alienist" of the title, forensic psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, who is joined in a murder investigation by Evans as reporter John Moore.
The Alienist is a psychological thriller set in the Gilded Age of New York City in 1896, a city of vast wealth, extreme poverty and technological innovation. When a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips the city, newly appointed police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt calls upon criminal psychologist (aka alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and newspaper reporter John Moore to conduct the investigation in secret. They are aided by a makeshift crew of singular characters, among them the intrepid Sara Howard, a young secretary on Roosevelt's staff who is determined to become the first female police detective in New York City. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders tracks down one of New York City's first serial killers.
Known as an alienist – one who studies mental pathologies – Dr. Kriezler works as a specialist in deviant behavior. His profession, along with his careless intensity, makes him a social pariah in some circles, despite his striking good looks and a sophisticated sensibility. Kreizler is passionate about his work and tireless in his efforts to seek out the depraved killer whose vicious, barbaric and ritualistic deeds have terrorized the city's poorest residents. In doing so, he hopes to also unravel the traumatic mysteries of the human psyche, especially his own, and answer the question behind what makes a man into a murderer.
Handsome, easy going, easily distracted, and prone to melancholy, John Moore is a society illustrator for the New York Times and a longtime friend of alienist Dr. Kreizler and police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt. While drowning his sorrows and lamenting the loss of a former lover Kreizler summons him to the scene of a brutal crime. Always lacking drive and a meaning to his pursuits he throws himself into assisting Kreizler's investigation into the grisly murders and comes to face some hard truths about himself.
The adaptation of Carr's prose was written by Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP) and Hossein Amini (DRIVE). Roth and Amini are also executive producers on the show, as are Anonymous Content's Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin.
A co-production of Paramount Television and Turner's Studio T, The Alienist is set to start filming in Budapest in early 2017, and is expected to premiere on TNT sometime late in the year.
I have never read Carr's novel, but the story is definitely intriguing and it sounds like it has some very interesting characters. Brühl and Evans should be able to bring Kriezler and Moore to life quite well.
Evans in DRACULA UNTOLD