The Savant: Jessica Chastain to lead a hunt against violent men in a new limited series for Apple

When Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf developed a “communication model” that would pave the way to the internet, I doubt online hate groups were a part of the dream. Unfortunately, anonymity and the creation of forums where people can foster deplorable behavior exist. What if someone were to infiltrate them? Can you dismantle this egregious behavior one corner of the dark web at a time? Jessica Chastain‘s character in The Savant is going to try. That’s right, haters. After playing country music star Tammy Wynette in George & Tammy, Chastain will star in The Savant, a new limited series for Apple.

Apple’s eight-part series hails from Anatomy of a Scandal co-creator Melissa James Gibson with Fifth Season and Anonymous Content producing. In Apple’s new series, Chastain plays a top-secret investigator, the Savant. Her job is to infiltrate online hate groups to expose and bring the most violent men in the world to justice. The story is based on a true story published by Cosmopolitan, written by Andrea Stanley, who consults on the series.

In addition to her starring role, Chastain executive produces through her Freckle Films studio. James Gibson executive produces with Matthew Heineman, the series director. Kelly Carmichael also executive produces for Freckle Films alongside Jessica Giles, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan. Brian Madden, SVP of development for Hearst Magazines, will also join the production effort.

Earlier this month, Deadline said Chastain and Misha Green’s sci-fi horror project, I Am Not Alone, will stream on Netflix. Green will write and direct, with Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain attached to star. Deadline reports that the rights to the project, based on a 22-page short story by Chris Hicks, were the subject of a bidding war between five studios. By the end of the 72-hour bidding war, Netflix emerged the winner, beating out runner-up Warner Bros. with a six-figure purchase of the rights and a mid-seven-figure offer to Green. The deal also appealed to Green because she wanted I Am Not Alone to become a streaming series.

As for the story itself: The short story begins with the prologue: ‘I began seeing the creatures about a week before Zoe’s visit.’ I don’t want to give too much of it away, but the story centers around a mother of a young daughter whose life unravels when she suffers unbearable migraines that cause her to hallucinate as she begins to see creatures. It is the template for a grounded sci-fi story about a mother forced to defend her family against a threat only she can see.

I Am Not Alone is being produced by Green, Genre Films’ Simon Kinberg and Audrey Chon, Bread & Circuses Entertainment’s Craig Flores, Scott Glassgold, Peter Katz, and Chastain, with her Freckle Pictures partner Kelly Carmichael.

Are you interested in the concept for Apple’s The Savant? Jessica Chastain is venturing into dark territory as of late, and we love to see it. We’ll bring you more details about The Savant as they become available.