Netflix has ordered a new heist drama titled Jigsaw with Giancarlo Espositio (The Mandalorian) set to lead the series from producer Ridley Scott.
Jigsaw has been created by Eric Garcia, who will act as showrunner, basing the story loosely on an event in New York during Hurricane Sandy where billions of dollars went missing.
Also starring in the series will be Paz Vega (The OA), Rufus Sewell (The Man in High Castle), Tati Gabrielle ( Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Peter Mark Kendall (The Americans), Rosaline Elbay (Ramy), Jai Courtney (The Suicide Squad) and Niousha Noor (The Night). Directing the first two episodes is Jose Padilha (Elite Squad).
Jigsaw will take a non-linear approach to the story that spans 25 years. The eight-episode series will see events throughout 24 years before the heist and one year after. The official synopsis reads:
Spanning 24 years, Jigsaw centers around the largest heist ever attempted, and the vengeance, scheming, loyalties, and betrayals that surround it. It’s loosely inspired by the real-life story where seventy billion dollars in bonds went missing in downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy.
Also released were character descriptions for the cast. Jigsaw will feature Esposito as Leo Pop. “A natural leader, Leo is whip-smart, intense and driven, with an engineer’s mind and a meticulous eye for detail. He became a thief at a young age — and though he had a chance to get out, he couldn’t stay away from the criminal life and his relapse cost him his family and his freedom.”
Vega will be Ava Mercer, an attorney who “is equally at home on a gun range or gallery show as she is in the courtroom. Although she plays things fast and loose, deep down she’s a passionate soul who will do anything to protect the few people close to her.”
Sewell is Roger Salas, “a former thief who has reinvented himself as a top tier security expert, Roger is a salesman with an uncanny ability to manipulate people to his ends. Loyal, to a point, but his own ambitions and needs will win out every time.”
Gabrielle will portray Hannah Kim. “Intelligent, ambitious, and adaptable, Hannah is a woman who wears many hats – and is driven by far more than money. As a chameleon who flows between the world of high-stakes finance and low-lying crime, she will have to use everything in her bag of tricks to find a way up and out.”
Kendall is Stan Loomis, “a small-time smuggler with a big-time passion for life’s epicurean pleasures, Stan’s got a mouth that never stops running and the heart of a hopeless romantic. Loyal to a fault, he’s willing to risk it all for the object of his desire — even if it means giving up the comfortable life he’s built for himself.”
Elbay is Judy Goodwin, “the crew’s demolitions specialist, Judy is headstrong and independent — an eccentric spitfire with a sarcastic edge who is clever and talented enough to stay a step ahead of her mistakes.”
Courtney is Bob Goodwin, “a chest-puffing alpha male with a knack for safecracking and pushing people’s buttons, Bob is attractive enough to be a threat and smart enough to be dangerous to anyone who gets in his way when he’s on the hunt.”
Noor is Nazan Abassi. “Driven, damaged and tenacious to a fault, FBI Agent Nazan Abassi is the raging fire that threatens to burn our crew of thieves down – as long as those flames don’t consume her first.”
Jigsaw comes from Scott Free Productions with Scott, David Zucker and Jordan Sheehan producing alongside Russell Fine and Automatik Entertainment’s Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Justin Levy.
Esposito is currently filming the final season of Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad prequel where he has reprised the role of drug kingpin Gustavo Fring.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.