AMC announced today that David Schwimmer (“American Crime Story,” “Band of Brothers,” ”Friends”) and Jim Sturgess (21, Across the Universe, Cloud Atlas) will star in the network’s upcoming original series Feed the Beast. A co-production between AMC Studios and Lionsgate, based on the Danish series “Bankerot,” the series will be adapted by writer/showrunner Clyde Phillips (“Dexter,” “Nurse Jackie”), who also serves as executive producer. Feed the Beast is a drama about two best friends, Tommy Moran (Schwimmer), and Dion Patras (Sturgess) who take one last shot at their dream of opening a restaurant. Production will begin in New York City in February 2016 and the 10 one-hour episodes are set to premiere in May 2016.
Feed the Beast tells the story of Tommy (Schwimmer) and Dion (Sturgess) who are like brothers. With all the love – and all the complications – that comes with it. Dion can’t stay out of trouble. Tommy can’t move past it. For two friends on the brink of losing everything, a dusty pipe dream of opening up an upscale restaurant in their hometown of the Bronx is all they have left to turn their lives around. They push each other to follow through on their dreams, welcome love into their lives, and overcome their demons. They also betray, backstab, manipulate and coerce each other into the most dangerous situations imaginable. For Tommy, a successful haute Hellenic restaurant is his means to give his son a life he never had. For Dion, this venture is a perfect opportunity to secretly repay his debt to the Mob. Together, they take on the insanity of the New York restaurant world, and navigate its underbelly of petty criminals, corrupt officials and violent mobsters. With the vig running, there’s more than food, wine and fresh starts on the line. One wrong move and people get chopped.
Additional casting for the series includes Michael Gladis (“Mad Men,” “House of Lies”), who will play Patrick Woichik, aka The Tooth Fairy, the soft spoken, brutally intimidating local mobster with a penchant for pulling teeth; Lorenza Izzo (The Green Inferno, Sex Ed), who will play Pilar Herrera, a woman who meets Tommy in a grief group, and is desperately searching for true love; Christine Adams (Batman Begins, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), who will star as Tommy’s late wife Rie Moran, John Doman (“The Wire,” “The Affair”), who will play Tommy’s father Aidan Moran, a shrewd and ruthless businessman and unapologetic racist; and Elijah Jacob (“Spot On”) who will play Tommy’s ten year old son TJ Moran.
“Under Clyde’s creative leadership, ‘Feed the Beast’ is a layered character piece and a highly entertaining story,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. ‘To have David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess along with the rest of our wonderful cast bringing this story to life is incredibly exciting, and we can’t wait to get started in a few weeks.”
“‘Feed The Beast’ is the kind of provocative, premium quality series that has become a Lionsgate trademark,” said Lionsgate Television Group Chairman Kevin Beggs. ‘We’re delighted to expand our relationship with the iconic Clyde Phillips, excited to work with this bold ensemble cast led by the incomparable David Schwimmer and including the incredibly talented Jim Sturgess, and thrilled to bring this fast-paced drama about food, friends and family to life with our longtime partners at AMC.”
“David and Jim are each incredibly talented actors whose careers span theater, film and television. But more importantly, they both possess an inherent honesty and vulnerability in their craft which are essential in the flawed characters of Tommy and Dion,” said Clyde Phillips, executive producer and showrunner. “Their grasp of the story, and their respective characters’ journeys, is something I’m very eager to dive into with them.”
Feed the Beast is produced by AMC Studios and Lionsgate in association with Clyde Phillips Productions. Executive producers are Phillips, Henrik Ruben Genz (“Bankerot,” “Borgen”), Malene Blenkov (“Bankerot”) and Piv Bernth (“The Killing,” “Forbrydelsen” and “Bron/Broen”).
(Photo credit: WENN)
