Three years after “Atlanta” wrapped its acclaimed run, Brian Tyree Henry has lined up his next big TV role.
The actor leads “Dope Thief,” a new Apple TV+ series from creator and executive producer Peter Craig that sees him play a career criminal who impersonates a DEA agent as part of a larger plot to rob a drug den. The series hails from Ridley Scott, who directs the pilot and serves as an executive producer through his Scott Free production company.
An official synopsis for the series reads: “Based on Dennis Tafoya’s book of the same name, the series follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard.”
In addition to Henry, the series stars Wagner Moura, Marin Ireland, Kate Mulgrew, Nesta Cooper, Amir Arison, Dustin Nguyen, and Ving Rhames.
Fans of Scott seldom have to wait long for his next project, as the 87-year-old continues to work at a breakneck pace. He is currently gearing up to direct his “Gladiator II” star Paul Mescal in “The Dog Stars,” a post-apocalyptic film about two solitary people living in an airplane hangar after a crisis wipes out humanity as they know it. That film is based on a 2012 book of the same name by Peter Heller, with “The Revenant” screenwriter Mark L. Smith adapting the novel for the big screen.
Scott is also developing a film about the Bee Gees for Paramount, and has teased the possibility of making a third “Gladiator” movie that would round out his trilogy.
“I’ve lit the fuse,” Scott recently said of his “Gladiator III” idea. “The ending of ‘Gladiator II’ is reminiscent of ‘The Godfather,’ with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?‘ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”
The first two episodes of “Dope Thief” premiere on Friday, March 14, with new episodes releasing weekly on Apple TV+ until the finale streams on April 25. Watch the trailer below.