‘Strike Back’ Reboot Gets Series Order By Cinemax & Sky, Sets Core Cast
Strike Back is back. A new incarnation of the popular action series with new characters and a new cast has been greenlighted by Cinemax and Sky to film in 2017. Aussies Alin Sumarwata an Daniel MacPherson (The Shannara Chronicles) and English actors Roxanne McKee (Dominion) and Warren Brown (Luther) are set to star in the new season of the show — its sixth overall and fifth on Cinemax — from the franchise’s executive producer Andy Harries of Left Bank Pictures.
I hear Harries — who was behind the original season-long Strike Back on Sky starring Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln, and the Cinemax-Sky collaboration, toplined by Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winchester, which ran for four seasons — had the idea for another reboot, which both networks embraced.
I hear the new Strike Back is evolving from the buddy cop formula of the original into a diverse ensemble in the mold of The Fast and the Furious franchise. And while the previous incarnations were focused largely on the remnants of Al-Qaeda, the storylines of the new Strike Back will reflect the era of ISIS. There are no current plans for Stapleton or Winchester to reprise their roles in guest starring stints but I hear that is a possibility.
In the new Strike Back, written by Jack Lothian, disavowed and disbanded, the Section program is restored in order to track down a notorious terrorist following a brutal prison break. Tasked with covert military intelligence and high-risk operations, the resurrected unit embarks on a lethal manhunt that will uncover a vast web of interconnected criminal activity. As the team journeys across the Middle East and Europe, they uncover a deadly conspiracy which threatens to overwhelm them all and change the face of modern warfare forever.
Sumarwata plays Gracie Novin, a gear-head who is looking to make the step up. Genuine, honest to the point of bluntness, she’s the heart and soul of the team. MacPherson plays Samuel Wyatt, a bar-room philosopher who works best alone and has no intention of being dragged into a team situation. McKee plays Natalie Roberts, who comes from a military family, excels at psychological profiles and seeking weaknesses in others, although she might be blinded to her own fault-lines. Brown is Daniel “Mac” Macallister, a man of his word, affable, physically capable, and driven by a desire to avenge the team he’s lost.
Lothian, who serves as showrunner, executive produces with Harries and Sharon Hughff for Left Bank Pictures. Michael J. Bassett will serve as director and executive producer, Bill Shephard as producer.
In addition to the four seasons of Strike Back Cinemax co-produced with Sky, the U.S. network in 2013 aired Sky’s first season as Strike Back: Origins.
MacPherson also is filming Ava Duvernay’s A Wrinkle In Time and has a recurring on Fox’s upcoming drama APB. He is repped by UTA, Management 360 and Australian agency Mark Morrissey & Assoc.
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