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Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer and Emmy-winner Hannah Waddingham join forces for an as-yet-untitled action-comedy series for Amazon, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After an intense bidding war, Amazon came out victorious and has now ordered an eight-episode straight-to-series project based on Tessa Coates' original idea. Coates' new original script was one of few that has generated multiple offers in what has an usually subdued marketplace, according to Hollywood insiders.
Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham in a Thelma & Louise meets Jack Ryan series
Spencer and Waddingham will star as best friends Debbie and Judith, respectively. The two are trying to reconnect so they can fix their relationship after Debbie learns Judith has a not-so-wholesome job: assassin. When a hit goes horrendously wrong, the duo go on the run as they are targeted by an enemy who wants to kill them. Together, they have to work so they can solve this mystery.
Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke said, “We were blown away by this one-of-a-kind comedy.”
“Tessa’s pitch delivered it all — fantastically original characters, a great story, the amazing creative talents of Octavia and Hannah, and so much fun. We are over the moon to work with them all plus the dream teams at Skydance, Double Dream and Orit Entertainment,” she added.
The untitled series is the first project from Skydance TV's first-look deal with Spencer's Orit Entertainment. It also marks Skydance's latest collaboration with Amazon after Reacher, Jack Ryan and the upcoming James Patterson novel adaptation Cross. Coates and Spencer will executive produce representatives from Orit, Double Dream and Skydance Television. The series was developed by Mark Mikutowicz and Blair Bigelow for Skydance.
“I was in as soon as I heard Tessa’s stunning pitch. To be able to dive into a role like Debbie is rare, and working with Hannah to bring this unique friendship to life is a dream,” Spencer said.
“We knew we had something special with Skydance and Double Dream, and now that we have a home at Amazon, our vision has become a reality,” the actress continued.
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“I’m not gonna lie, a few expletives fell out of my face at the prospect of working with the magnificent Ms. Spencer, Tessa Coates’ hugely energetic, exhilarating script, Skydance and Double Dream,” Waddingham stated.
“To then see the immediate excited response from a mighty beast like Amazon! It’s all just incredibly exciting, and I can’t wait to get our collective teeth into it!” the Ted Lasso actress added.
Spencer & Waddingham 101
This is Waddingham's follow-up role to the Emmy-winning sports comedy series. Ted Lasso's future is still up in the air, be it spinoffs or a fourth season without Lasso (star creator Jason Sudeikis) in the show. Apple, Warner Bros. and Sudeikis are still in talks.
Waddingham's other famous role was the “Shame Nun” who rang the bell for Cersei Lannister on HBO's Game of Thrones. She also played head boy Jackson's mother, Sophia Marchetti in the recently concluded Netflix show Sex Education. Her upcoming movies are Fall Guy, Garfield and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part Two.
Spencer and her production company, Orit, have executive produced the series Truth Be Told and Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madame C.J. Walker. She also starred in both. She and Orit also EP-ed the docuseries Lost Women of Highway 20 and Feds.
Jessica Chastain, Spencer's co-star in 2012′ The Help, for which Spencer won an Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, said she's interested in reprising her role in a sequel to the movie.
