Manifesto: Paul Bettany Cast in Discovery Channel’s Scripted Series

Shutterstock

Manifesto has its man. This week, Discovery Channel announced Paul Bettany has joined the network’s upcoming TV series.

The scripted drama “will tell the story of how the FBI brought down Ted Kaczynski (Bettany), also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world.” The role marks Bettany’s U.S. television debut.

From Discovery Channel:

(LOS ANGELES) – Discovery Channel announced that Paul Bettany (“Gangster No. 1,” “Captain America: Civil War”) has been cast in its upcoming highly-anticipated scripted series MANIFESTO, set to air next year. Produced with Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions, the series will tell the story of how the FBI brought down Ted Kaczynski (Bettany), also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world. This series will feature Bettany’s first major leading role on U.S. television.

Bettany first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film “Gangster No. 1,” and director Brian Helgeland’s film “A Knight’s Tale.” He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including “A Beautiful Mind,” “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” “Dogville,” “Wimbledon,” and “The Da Vinci Code.” He is also known for his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically the films “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,” “The Avengers,” “Iron Man 3,” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” in which he also portrayed the Vision, for which he garnered praise. He reprised his role as the Vision in “Captain America: Civil War.” His film “Shelter,” which Bettany wrote, directed and produced and starred Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, was released in the Fall of 2016. The film was nominated for Best Debut feature at the Raindance Film Festival in London. He is currently shooting the feature film “Journey’s End,” opposite Asa Butterfield, Sam Claflin and Toby Jones.

MANIFESTO is from Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti’s Trigger Street and writer Andrew Sodroski, who topped Hollywood’s famed Black List for screenplays in 2013 with “Holland, Michigan.” Emmy(R) Award-winning television producer and director Greg Yaitanes (“Quarry,” “Banshee”) will executive produce, direct and serve as showrunner. The series is part of the push to add a select number of high-end scripted projects to Discovery’s line-up under the leadership of Rich Ross, Group President of Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel. Ross recruited producer John Goldwyn to drive the scripted initiative. Goldywn also served as executive producer for Discovery’s “Harley and the Davidsons,” which delivered more than 4.4 million viewers for Discovery this past September and became the most watched single-network cable mini-series in 3.5 years.

MANIFESTO will trace how Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald challenged the “old school” ways with his radical new approach to intelligence gathering. Fitzgerald had training as a profiler, but it was his focus on linguistics that became vital to breaking the case. He believed that the key to unlocking the true identity of the Unabomber would be found in the language of The Manifesto, a detailed account of some of Kaczynski’s plots.

MANIFESTO is produced with Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions. Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Troy Searer and Greg Yaitanes are Executive Producers. John Goldwyn will serve as Executive Producer on behalf of Discovery. Jim Fitzgerald will serve as Consulting Producer.”

What do you think? Are you a fan of Paul Bettany? Will you watch Manifesto?