Christina Ricci (Wednesday, Yellowjackets) and Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) have been tapped to portray leading roles in the upcoming true crime series titled Chop Shop.
This marks Ricci’s latest major TV project as the lead, after receiving critical acclaim for her performance as Misty Quigley in Showtime’s Yellowjackets series. The role earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She’s currently in production of Yellowjackets Season 3, which had just recently begun filming in Vancouver. Meanwhile, Linklater most recently starred as Abraham Lincoln in Apple TV+’s Manhunt series, which followed the aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination.
What is Chop Shop about?
“Chop Shop will chart the chilling and twisted tale of the Lamb Funeral Home in 1980s Los Angeles. When David Sconce (Linklater) — the Machiavellian scion of a Bible college football coach and a church organist — takes the reins of the family business, the seemingly All-American clan begins a jaw-dropping descent from saints to sinners,” reads the official logline (via Deadline). Desperate to keep their funeral home afloat, Sconce engineers a sinister new business strategy, replete with human body harvesting and mass cremation. The script will paint a harrowing portrait of hubris against the neon greed of the era, where insatiable ambition turns a former football star into a SoCal sociopath.”
The true crime series is inspired by Kathy Braidhill’s 1999 novel of the same name, which will be written by Andy Bellin. The project will feature Ricci playing journalist character based on Braidhill. In addition to leading the cast, she will also produced the series alongside Laura Rister and Untitled Entertaiment’s Michael Rosenberg.
“Upon reading Braidhill’s book Chop Shop, we were fascinated to discover this shocking Los Angeles story that truly is stranger than fiction,” Rister and Rosenberg said in a statement. “Christina and Hamish naturally gravitate to complex, brave material and roles. We feel so fortunate to capture their combined magic in one show. We also look forward to collaborating again with Andy Bellin, who shares a deep curiosity for intricate human stories.”
