Netflix was quick to snatch up Maniac, a series starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill that was pitched last week. The streamer has given the Cary Fukunaga-directed series a 10-episode straight-to-series-order, reports Deadline.
A dark comedy, Maniac centers on a man (played by Hill) who is locked up in an institution and escapes into his own fantasies to avoid his reality. The project is based on a 2014 Norwegian series of the same name starring Espen Petrus Andersen Lervaag. Stone will play another patient at the facility.
Although Stone and Hill have each appeared in TV roles over the course of their careers, neither has been a series regular before. The duo have, however, shared the screen, both appearing in the 2007 comedy film Superbad. While Maniac sounds like a much darker brand of comedy, it will be fun for fans to see them tackle that challenge together.
Netflix has proven willing to order shows with big names attached straight to series. The streaming service-turned-studio has done the same with projects like the Selena Gomez-produced 13 Reasons Why and Santa Clarita Diet, a comedy with Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant attached to star. We can’t blame Netflix for its eagerness, especially not in this case; the combination of Stone, Hill, and Fukunaga is enticing.
Fukunaga is expected to direct the entire 10-episode season. He has worked with Netflix before, serving as writer, director, and producer on the streamer’s first feature film, Beasts of No Nation. No writer is currently attached to the project, but a search is reportedly underway.
Stone, Hill, and Fukunaga are all set to executive produce the series, alongside Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar and Doug Wald, and co-executive producer Ashley Zalta. No timeline for the show’s release has been announced.
