Apple has given a straight-to-series order for “Lady in the Lake,” a new limited series directed and co-written by Alma Har’el that will co-star Academy Award winners Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o. All three women will serve as executive producers along with Dre Ryan, who will co-create and co-write the series with Har’el, who will write the pilot.
“Lady in the Lake” is an adaptation of Laura Lippman’s New York Times best-selling novel of the same name. The limited series takes place in ’60s Baltimore, where an unsolved murder pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz (Portman) to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist and sets her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood (Nyong’o), a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.
“Lady in the Lake,” produced by Crazyrose and Bad Wolf America, is executive produced by Har’el alongside producing partner Christopher Leggett through her new production company, Zusa. In addition to starring, Portman and Nyong’o will serve as executive producers on the series, alongside Portman’s producing partner Sophie Mas. Crazyrose principals Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross will also serve as executive producers, and Julie Gardner will executive produce for Bad Wolf America. Author Laura Lippman and Dre Ryan will also executive produce on the project. Endeavor Content is the studio.
“Lady in the Lake” marks Natalie Portman’s first foray into television, as well as Alma Har’el’s first television project. Har’el’s most recent film, “Honey Boy,” won her the Sundance 2019 Special Jury Directing Award for Craft and Vision, received four Independent Spirit Awards nominations including Best Director, and made her the first woman to win the DGA Award for First-Time Feature Film. She is also the first woman in DGA Awards history to be nominated for both commercial directing (2018) and narrative directing (2020).
“Lady in the Lake” joins Apple TV+’s growing roster of award-winning television series, including the Golden Globe and multiple Critics’ Choice Award-winning “Ted Lasso”; Emmy, Critics Choice and SAG award-winning and Golden Globe Award-nominated series “The Morning Show”; NAACP Image Award-winning “Truth Be Told”; as well as highly anticipated series including “Physical,” a new dramedy from creator Annie Weisman, and starring and executive produced by Rose Byrne; “Lisey’s Story,” starring and executive produced by Academy Award winner Julianne Moore, created by Stephen King, and executive produced by J.J. Abrams; “The Shrink Next Door,” starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd; “WeCrashed,” starring and executive produced by Academy, Golden Globe and SAG Award winners Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto; “Five Days At Memorial” from Academy Award winner John Ridley and Emmy Award winner Carlton Cuse; and “Roar,” a new female-driven anthology series from creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, and executive producers Nicole Kidman and Bruna Papandrea.