The Netflix series Maniac, starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, has a production start date in sight.
The award circuit adulation over Emma Stone and her role in modern musical La La Land currently has her stardom at stratospheric levels, potentially set to procure a Best Lead Actress Oscar. Thus, it’s probably a testament to the power of streaming outlet Netflix that – against the backdrop of that– they have continued to keep her interested in a streaming TV project with Jonah Hill, which was previously announced last March.
According to Deadline, Emma Stone and Jonah Hill's upcoming 10-episode Netflix comedy series titled Maniac is moving into production later this year in New York City, with a start penciled in for Aug. 15. The series will be written by Patrick Somerville (The Bridge, The Leftovers), adapting a 2014 Norwegian series of the same name. Moreover, Maniac will also enjoy the directorial talent of Cary Fukunaga, who made quite the cultural impact in 2014 directing and showrunning the Emmy-winning inaugural season of HBO’s True Detective. Fukunaga and Netflix are hardly strangers, since he wrote and directed their 2015 original film Beasts of No Nations, a controversial, bellwether offering for the industry that evoked the ire of distributors who claimed its streaming debut violated theatrical windows.
Maniac, mirroring the plot of the original Norwegian series, will center on the primary characters played by Stone and Hill, two people restricted to a mental institution, who manage to create fantasy worlds to escape the isolation of their insular existences. While the premise is arguably reminiscent of Zack Snyder’s 2011 atmospheric, sexified written/directorial drama Sucker Punch, the series' status as a comedy clearly telegraphs a different tone. Indeed, with the medium of television also recently covering the same “unreliable narrator” imagination filter trope with USA’s Mr. Robot, we can expect Maniac to purposefully project off-the-wall-themes.
Reinforcing the high-profile nature of the Maniac project (which landed on Netflix’s docket back in March), the report claims that the proverbial toast of the town, Stone, and perennial comedy star Hill met in LA last week with Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey, who will apparently roll up his sleeves to be directly involved with the gestating series, specifically when it comes to ensuring that the stars’ busy schedules are synchronized enough to field their roles. Of course, in a narrative that can’t be overlooked, Maniac will also become an intriguing reunion, since comedy fans remember the duo of Stone and Hill for their characters’ awkward courtship in the crass 2007 comedy Superbad.
Maniac will reportedly commence production in New York City on Aug. 15, hoping to have things wrapped before Thanksgiving. For proper context, check out the zany trailer for the original Norwegian series below!