David Farnor | On 21, Mar 2017

Colin Farrell is heading to Amazon for his latest project, a TV series about the Iran-Contra scandal.

The Fantastic Beasts actor is reuniting with Yorgos Lanthimos, director of The Lobster, for the programme. Farrell will play Oliver North, the former US marine who became caught up in the scandal, taking partial responsibility for the sales of weapons to Iran through intermediaries, with the profits from the deals funnelled off to the Contras in Nicaragua.

“I’m really excited to be working with Colin again on something quite different to what we have done so far,” Lanthimos told Variety, who first announced the series. “I look forward to joining forces with Ben and Nicky, who had an excellent casting idea and saw the potential of the material early on and Amazon, who has embraced the project with great enthusiasm. It makes me very confident and excited to be working on a script which, although based on relatively recent history, feels very fresh and relevant to our times.”

The show will be written by Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson, with sources telling Variety that the project is in development as Amazon awaits the final scripts.

“Great projects can stand out for the filmmaker, the talent, or the pure originality of the storytelling. Brilliant projects like this stand out by virtue of having all of those elements,” Joe Lewis, Amazon Studios’ head of comedy, drama, and VR, said in a statement. “We’re excited to be making stories with Yorgos, Colin, Ben, and Nicky from Enzo and Scott’s incredible scripts.”

The show joins a growing number of high-profile original series for Amazon Studios, which is currently set to be the home of Matthew “Mad Men” Weiner’s next show and a programme from David O Russell, which will star Julianne Moore and Robert De Niro. Behind the project is another big name: Ben Stiller, who is exec producing the show with Nicky Weinstock for his Red Hour Films.

Farrell, meanwhile, is no stranger to the small screen, thanks to his turn in HBO’s True Detective Season 2. Lanthimos, meanwhile, is clearly enjoying working with his Lobster star – while he is currently filming The Favourite with Emma Stone, the director also just finished working on The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which also stars Farrell.

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