The Tourist: Jamie Dornan to star in six-episode thriller for HBO Max

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Best known to many as the guy from the Fifty Shades movies and to me as the serial killer from The Fall, Jamie Dornan has signed on to star in the six-episode limited series The Tourist, a mystery thriller from production company Two Brothers Pictures. HBO Max will be co-producing the series, which will be available to watch through the streaming service in the U.S.

Scripted by Two Brothers Pictures founders Harry and Jack Williams, The Tourist will be filmed in Australia this year. Dornan is joined in the cast by Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin, and Hugo Weaving.

Dornan will be playing a 

British man who finds himself in the glowing red heart of the Australian outback, being pursued by a vast tank truck trying to drive him off the road. An epic cat-and-mouse chase unfolds, and the man later wakes in hospital, hurt, but somehow alive. Except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, The Man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback.

A cat and mouse chase involving a truck reminds me of the Steven Spielberg classic Duel, and instantly gets me interested in The Tourist.

Macdonald will be playing Helen Chambers, "a fledgling Probationary Constable"; Brune-Franklin takes on the role of Luci, "a waitress who's swept into The Man's journey for answers" (which makes me think of The Hitcher); and Weaving will be Agent Lachlan Rogers, "one of the most highly regarded detective inspectors in Australia, leading Major Crime for the state police".

In addition to Two Brothers Pictures and HBO Max, other companies involved with The Tourist include the BBC, Highview Productions, All3Media International, the South Australian Film Corporation, Stan, and ZDF. Harry and Jack Williams are executive producing it with Christopher Aird, Andrew Benson, Tommy Bulfin, and director Chris Sweeney. Lisa Scott is producing.

HBO Max's Jeniffer Kim said, 

Harry and Jack's talents are as vast as the Australian outback, and this thriller will leave viewers on the edge of their seat piecing together the puzzle. We are delighted to have Jamie, Danielle, Hugo and Shalom join the cast for this compelling addition to our slate of international original series."

Dornan said The Tourist scripts are "some of the most exciting scripts I've ever read".