John R. Maxim’s spy book series “Bannerman” will get the TV adaptation treatment from Netflix and AMC Global Media, marking the companies’ first co-production.
The drama series hails from executive producers Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”), Craig Silverstein (“Nikita,” “Turn: Washington’s Spies”), Greg Nicotero (“The Walking Dead,” Pulp Fiction”), Brian Witten (“Creepshow”). AMC Studios serves as the lead studio.
Silverstein is also attached to showrun and write, while Black co-wrote the first episode and will direct the first two episodes. “Bannerman” marks Black’s first written-directed TV series after writing and directing films like “The Nice Guys,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “Iron Man 3,” among others.
The official logline is as follows: “Paul Bannerman, a lethal covert operative, convinces a group of the world’s most deadly assassins to quit the spy game for a chance to lead normal lives in the suburbs of Connecticut. Old enemies, bad habits, a paranoid government and an unrelenting ex-cop will make retirement their most difficult mission yet.”
As a result of the co-production, which marks the company’s first collaboration to jointly develop and produce select original series, “Bannerman” will premiere on AMC in the U.S. and Canada, and will drop on Netflix in the U.S. and Canada 90 days after the season finale airs on AMC.
Netflix and AMC will jointly premiere each episode in Australia, New Zealand and Spain, and everywhere else, Netflix will debut the show exclusively.
“Bannerman” was announced to be in the works at AMC back in 2023, but it appears that the partnership with Netflix enabled the project to move forward.
“Bannerman is a smart, high-octane thrill ride of a series, powered by an extraordinary creative team,” chief content officer of AMC Global Media and president of AMC Studios Dan McDermott said. “This is the perfect premium drama to kick off our first co-production with Netflix, and we are thrilled to continue evolving and expanding our partnership by jointly developing and producing select original series for our respective platforms.”
Spanning five books, the Bannerman series centers on ex-spy Paul Bannerman, who gets pulled out of suburban life and back into the world of crime. Matters are made more complicated when his girlfriend’s father, Raymond Lesko, comes crashing into Paul’s life as a grizzled former NYPD officer who suspects Paul is not who he says he is, per the official logline.
Nicotero is represented by UTA, Mosaic and JSSK. Craig Silverstein is repped by WME and HJTH. Shane Black is repped by WME, Greenlit and Eric Brooks.
