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Fresh off his widely acclaimed movie All Quiet on the Western Front, Oscar-winning director Edward Berger is teaming up with Netflix once again for a brand new spy thriller based on Christopher Reich’s Simon Riske book series. Here’s the lowdown on what we know so far.
Edward Berger is set to direct the new Simon Riske series, which is in early development. The scripts are being written by Rowan Joffe (Tin Star, The Informer). The series is described as being in the vein of The Day of the Jackal and The Bourne Identity.
Edward Berger
The Simon Riske TV series will be a co-production between eOne and See-Saw Films, with Brillstein Creative Partners as a producer.
Deadline first announced the project to be at Netflix in mid-March 2023 with Christopher Reich confirming the news on Facebook stating, “Here we go!”.
Here’s everything else we know about the new Simon Riske series:
What’s the plot of the Simon Riske series?
The first season of the Simon Riske series is said to be focused on the first book in the series, The Take.
Here’s the synopsis of Christopher Reich’s 2018 novel The Take:
Riske is a freelance industrial spy who, despite his job title, lives a mostly quiet life above his auto garage in central London. He is hired to perform the odd job for a bank, an insurance company, or the British Secret Service, when he isn’t expertly stealing a million-dollar watch off the wrist of a crooked Russian oligarch.
Riske has maintained his quiet life by avoiding big, messy jobs; until now. A gangster by the name of Tino Coluzzi has orchestrated the greatest street heist in the history of Paris: a visiting Saudi prince had his pockets lightened of millions in cash, and something else. Hidden within a stolen briefcase is a secret letter that could upend the balance of power in the Western world. The Russians have already killed in an attempt to get it back by the time the CIA comes knocking at Simon’s door.
Coluzzi was once Riske’s brother-in-arms, but their criminal alliance ended with Riske in prison, having narrowly avoided a hit Coluzzi ordered. Now, years later, it is thief against thief, and hot on their trail are a dangerous Parisian cop, a murderous Russian femme fatale, her equally unhinged boss, and perhaps the CIA itself.
Who is cast in the new series?
As of March 2023, there are no cast members announced for the new Edward Berger series. That is due to the series being in very early stages of development and casting isn’t expected to start until later, when the project is closer to a production start.
How many episodes will be in the series?
Netflix hasn’t confirmed the episode count for the series, but it would stand to reason to assume it will be the standard 8 or 10 one-hour episodes.
What’s the production status of the spy thriller?
As of March 2023, the yet-untitled series is in early development with the scripts being written as we speak. There is no word yet regarding the filming start.
What’s the Netflix release date for the series?
As the series is still in the very early stages of development, it’s too early to speak of any release dates, but we could perhaps estimate sometime in 2024, based on the Summer 2023 filming start.