Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Crackle nabs original drama series, Start Up, with Adam Brody, Martin Freeman

start up crackle brody freeman martin headshot
Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Adam Brody and Martin Freeman have been tapped to star in a new one-hour drama called Start Up, just picked up by Crackle, a Sony streaming service, reports Variety.

Hailing from Critical Content, formerly known as Relativity Television, the show looks at a trio of strangers who wind up incubating a brilliant-but-controversial tech idea. Described as not quite “fitting the mold of tech entrepreneurs,” the situation for the three quickly becomes dangerous, involving ties to a Haitian gang and a crooked FBI agent. So Silicon Valley meets Narcos, perhaps?

Eric Berger, General Manager of Crackle and Executive Vice President of Sony Pictures Television Digital Networks, says the program will “explore the motivations and complexities of creating a new venture, while walking a fine line between crime and legitimacy.”

Freeman will play the aforementioned agent, while Brody is in the role of a sharp boutique firm financier. The show is set in Miami, though filmed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It will also star Ed Gathegi (The Blacklist, Twilight) and newcomer Otmara Marrero, who had a small appearance on Graceland.

Freeman has had a long and successful acting career, most recently appearing in the TV series Sherlock and Fargo. He’s also, of course, well-known for playing Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings movies. In addition to this project, he’s been tapped to appear in the upcoming movie Captain America: Civil War.

Brody’s most notable role to date was in teen primetime drama, The O.C., where he played the goofy high-schooler Seth Cohen for the show’s four-season run in the early ‘00s. He has since, however, appeared in a number of TV series, including Burning Love, House of Lies, The League, and Billy & Billie. He will next appear on the big screen in the upcoming movie CHiPs.

This marks the second scripted one-hour drama Crackle has picked up. Previously, the streaming channel scored The Art of More, which has been renewed for its second season. That show stars Kate Bosworth, Dennis Quaid, and Cary Elwes, among others.

Related Offer: Amazon Prime – Instant Video

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
3 sci-fi movies on Peacock you need to watch in October
Jeff Goldblum in The Fly transforming into a human-fly hybrid creature.

The month of October isn’t just about cramming as many horror movies as you can into your days and nights. There are other genres that are just as fitting, from psychological thrillers to intense dramas, and even sci-fi. Some of the best sci-fi movies, in fact, teeter the line between sci-fi and horror, quenching your need for creepy content.

There are three sci-fi movies on Peacock this month that you need to watch in October. All are new to the streaming service, and they hail from two of the best decades for the genre: the '80s and '90s. Travel back in time with a Jeff Goldblum classic, feast your eyes on the story of a killer car, or revisit high school life with teenage witches brewing something bad.

Read more
The most underrated horror sequel of this century is finally streaming again on Max
A group of people gather in Doctor Sleep.

In terms of traumatic childhoods, few movie characters have ever had it as bad as Danny Torrance. The young psychic child at the center of The Shining is not only relentlessly preyed upon one winter by the malevolent ghosts of a haunted hotel, but he and his mother are also nearly killed by his ax-wielding father. He experiences so many unimaginable horrors over the span of just a few months that one can't help but feel both relief and concern for him when The Shining ends.

Danny's traumatic time at the Overlook Hotel fittingly haunts writer-director Mike Flanagan's Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the film attempts to bring the story of Dan Torrance (played as an adult by Ewan McGregor) to a close. In doing so, it ends up telling a very different tale than its revered predecessor. If The Shining is about the dangers of alcoholism and male rage, then Doctor Sleep is about how children survive abuse in a world that seems intent on tamping them down and stealing their "shine."

Read more
Hoopla offers a library of Joker and Harley Quinn comics timed to Folie à Deux
Joker sits at a table while Harley Quin sits behind him.

One of the most anticipated releases of the fall, Joker: Folie à Deux, is being met with a somewhat cooler reception than the first film. If you're looking for great content about Joker and Harley Quinn, though, the movie theater is not the only place you can find it.

Timed to the movie's release, Hoopla, an online reading service that partners with local libraries, has announced that they have a collection of comics and other media related to the superhero spinoff. In fact, they have an entire Joker collection that features Joker and Harley Quinn comics, as well as the soundtracks to both films and Harlequin, Lady Gaga's new album, which was released to tie in with the film. The collection also includes Hoopla's exclusive collection of DC Manga, including Joker: One Operation Joker. In total, the collection includes more than 50 comic books and albums to explore.

Read more