Deadline reported earlier today that Jakob Verbruggen (The Fall, London Spy, House of Cards) will be replacing Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) as director for The Alienist TV series, set to air on TNT. It has also been revealed that the shooting location has moved again–this time, from New York to Budapest–with filming scheduled to begin in early 2017.
The TV drama series, first announced by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content in April/May of 2014, is said to have had a rocky development road, with Paramount TV and TNT going “back and forth” on a budget over the past year as the filming location was moved from Montreal to New York before finally settling on Budapest. Although Cary Fukunaga will no longer be directing the series, Deadline reports that he has written all episodes of the series, and will be retaining a role as executive producer. It is also reported that Eric Roth, Hossein Amini, and Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin will be retaining their roles as executive producers.
Speaking about the decision to bring Jakob Verbruggen on board as director, Sarah Aubrey, the EVP of original programming for TNT, stated: “Jakob will capture the intensity of this edge-of-your-seat thriller. The Alienist’s unique setting and characters, along with its pervasively tense and unsettling mood, couldn’t be in better hands.”