Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, Colin Hanks, Lio Tipton to Lead True-Crime Drama at Peacock

Peacock is joining the true-crime fray.

The NBCUniversal-backed streamer has handed out a straight-to-series order for A Friend of the Family, a scripted drama based on the harrowing story of the Broberg family, whose daughter was kidnapped multiple times.

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The series hails from Nick Antosca (The Act), who serves as showrunner, writer and exec producer on the drama via his overall deal with Universal Content Productions. A Friend of the Family will star Anna Paquin (Flack, True Blood) as Mary Ann Broberg, a mother of three who realized too late that she missed warning signs and became close to her charismatic neighbor, Robert Berchtold, and trusted him around her oldest daughter, Jan.

Jake Lacy, fresh off The White Lotus and Being the Ricardos, will play Robert, a businessman, Mormon father, husband and expert manipulator who plots the abduction of Jan. Colin Hanks, who next appears in Paramount+ drama The Offer, will play Bob Broberg, Mary Ann’s husband, who begins to fear that something is amiss with their neighbor. Lio Tipton (The Edge of Sleep, Why Women Kill) will portray Gail Berchtold, Robert’s wife and the mother of a large family who never could have expected what her husband would eventually do.

Alex Hedlund will exec produce A Friend of the Family alongside Antosca, with Eliza Hittman set to direct multiple episodes including the pilot. Jan Broberg and Mary Ann Broberg will both produce. Sky Borgman will consult for Top Knot Films.

A Friend of the Family arrives as Peacock has been ramping up spending on originals in an effort to bolster its content offerings and better compete in the streaming wars at a time when competitors have outspent the streamer and ordered more high-profile, star-studded packages. While Disney+ and HBO Max have already proven to be must-have services, Peacock is still searching for its big, broad, breakout hit.

Peacock’s streaming lineup includes the recently launched Bel-Air drama, Kate McKinnon’s Joe Exotic show, MacGruber, One of Us Is Lying, Saved by the Bell, Rutherford Falls and upcoming takes on Vampire Academy, Queer as Folk, Pitch Perfect, Field of Dreams and Ted.

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