Hostage Drama ‘The Envoy’ in the Works From Alexi Hawley, Lionsgate TV
The Recruit, The Diplomat and The Night Agent are about to be joined by The Envoy.
Lionsgate Television has optioned the rights to a June Vanity Fair story about the work of the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs and is teaming with The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley to develop a scripted series titled The Envoy.
From Peabody-winning journalist Adam Ciralsky, the June story chronicled the work of Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, as he and his colleagues work for the release of American hostages worldwide.
Hawley, who also runs Netflix’s The Diplomat, will create the series with Ciralsky on board as an exec producer. The duo has teamed before for The Diplomat, which is loosely based on Ciralsky’s previous work as a rookie lawyer who was recruited by the CIA. Hawley will exec produce via his Perfectman Pictures, alongside P3 Media’s Gene Klein.
Lionsgate says the TV series, which has not yet been shopped to potential buyers, will follow “one fictionalized hostage scenario per season and will be inspired by the article, which provides an in-depth look at the U.S. government’s commitment to freeing hostages.”
“It’s an honor to create a show based on Adam’s riveting article, fictionalizing the high-stakes, exhaustive and emotional efforts to bring America’s hostages home,” Hawley said.
Ciralsky spent a year following Carstens, the point man for freeing U.S. detainees held by the likes of Vladimir Putin and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. In his reporting, Ciralsky witnessed negotiations and interviewed dozens of officials as well as being present for successful and unsuccessful hostage recovery missions.
“Gene and I are thrilled to be reunited with Alexi and our talented partners at Lionsgate,” said Ciralsky. “Having collaborated on two amazing seasons of The Recruit, we know Alexi to be a singular voice and the perfect person to bring this show to life.”
Hawley created The Rookie, the Lionsgate TV-produced drama that will return in the fall for its seventh season on ABC, and created Netflix’s The Recruit, which is awaiting a premiere date for its second season.
For their part, Ciralsky and Klein produce The Rookie via their P3 Media banner and also have a feature documentary, Take No Prisoners, which focuses on Washington’s efforts to free Americans held hostage abroad.
For Lionsgate TV, The Envoy marks the latest high-profile development for the studio that is also behind the Power franchise. Other shows in the works at Lionsgate include a take on the gambling scandal that surrounded Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani as well as an English-language adaptation of Park Chan-wook’s film Oldboy.
“In just the past few days, we’ve seen this piece resonate with Vanity Fair readers globally,” said Scott Herbst, exec vp and head of scripted development at Lionsgate Television. “We’ve assembled a top-tier creative team to bring audiences a series inspired by the team that has impacted the lives of numerous hostages.”
The Night Agent, about an FBI agent, has become a monster hit for Netflix that has sparked the streaming giant to pursue other broad programs like The Diplomat, about the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. as she attempts to quell an international crisis. Broadcast-like dramas have increasingly become in demand in the streaming era following similar success of shows like Amazon’s Jack Ryan and Reacher.
