Maniac: What we know so far about Netflix’s latest show
By Dan Girolamo
Maniac, a new black comedy from Netflix starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, is set to premiere on September 21. Here is what we know so far.
This September, Netflix will release one of the most anticipated shows of 2018, Maniac. Maniac will follow Annie Landsberg (Emma Stone) and Owen Milgrim (Jonah Hill), two strangers who meet at a mysterious pharmaceutical trial that is supposed to rid them of their problems. Dr. James K. Mantleray (Justin Theroux) promises that his pills can repair any mental illness or heartbreak, but the trial begins to go awry as Landsberg and Milgrim grow closer together.
As the September 21 premiere date draws near, more details about the show are starting to come out. Here is what we know so far.
The series is full of star power
One of the reasons why the limited series has drawn significant interest lies with the cast and director. Emma Stone and Jonah Hill lead the star-studded cast. Both Stone and Hill have had critical success as of late, with Stone winning Best Actress for La La Land and Hill landing to Best Supporting nominations for Moneyball and Wolf of Wall Street.
Rounding out the cast are Justin Theroux, Julie Garner, and Sally Field. This also marks the return of director Cary Fukunaga behind the camera in television, who directs all 10 episodes. Fukunaga was behind the camera for the masterful season 1 of True Detective, which lead to his Emmy win.
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The series is based on a Norwegian show
Maniac is not an original series. In fact, Maniac is based on a 2014 Norwegian television series of the same name. The Norwegian adaption was developed by Hakon Bast Mossige and Espen PA Lervaag. Instead of a pharmaceutical trial, the 2014 series was based in a mental asylum that went back-and-forth between the mental asylum and the patient’s internal fantasy. The 2018 version is adapted by Patrick Somerville.
The premiere date is set
Maniac is set to be released on September 21. Contrary to popular belief from the public, Maniac is not listed as a drama. It is considered a black comedy with dramatic elements. The estimated run times for the 10 episodes are around 30 minutes.
The trailer promises a strange and eerie show
Netflix has kept Maniac so under-wraps that it was hard to get a sense of what to expect until now. The official summary reveals specific details about Stone’s and Hill’s characters.
"Set in a world somewhat like our own and similar to our time, Maniac tells the stories of Annie Landsberg (Stone) and Owen Milgrim (Hill), two strangers drawn to the late stages of a mysterious pharmaceutical trial, each for their own reasons. Neither of their lives have turned out quite right, and the promise of a new, radical kind of pharmaceutical treatment—a sequence of pills its inventor, Dr. James K. Mantleray (Justin Theroux), claims can repair anything about the mind, be it mental illness or heartbreak—draws them and ten other strangers to the facilities of Neberdine Pharmaceutical and Biotech for a three-day drug trial. Things do not go as planned."
The first full trailer sets the tone for creepy series as the opening scenes reveal mysterious interrogations between Stone, Hill, and Theroux.
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Maniac are set to premiere on September 21st on Netflix.