The lineup of impressive names to commit to Quibi continues to grow.
Liam Hemsworth is the latest to join the Jeffrey Katzenberg-founded short form content company, as the “Hunger Games” star has been cast as the lead in an as-yet-untitled action-thriller series.
He will play the central character of Dodge Maynard who, desperate to take care of his pregnant wife before a terminal illness can take his life, accepts an offer to participate in a deadly game where he soon discovers that he’s not the hunter, but the prey. The series explores the limits of how far someone would go to fight for their life and their family.
This will be one of the first U.S. shows to star Hemsworth, as the Australian actor only has brief appearances on “Workaholics” and “The Muppets” to his name.
Produced by CBS Television Studios for Quibi, the series is being penned by former “Sopranos” writer Nick Santora and directed by regular “Mad Men” helmer Phil Abraham. Both will serve as executive producers, while Gordon Gray and Silver Reel Pictures are on board as non-writing EPs.
The prospective show is one of dozens coming to Quibi, which is slated to launch in April 2020.
The company has announced a slew of projects including Steven Spielberg’s “After Dark,” a horror series users will be able to watch only between sundown and sunrise local time. Other partners include Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua, Sam Raimi, Jason Blum, Steven Soderbergh, Catherine Hardwick, Anna Kendrick, Doug Liman, Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media. Quibi also has ordered shows featuring Tyra Banks, Chrissy Teigen, Don Cheadle and Idris Elba as well as a remake of MTV’s “Punk’d.”
Led by former DreamWorks Animation chief Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, Quibi has raised $1 billion from investors including major Hollywood studios and is seeking to raise another $500 million ahead of its spring 2020 launch.