Justin Timberlake is heading back to Apple TV+. Having already starred in moving indie Palmer for the streamer, the actor/singer has now signed on to star in a new hour-long drama series Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.
Timberlake will star as Chuck Barris, host of The Gong Show and other game shows such as The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, who claimed in his 1984 memoirs that he was also a CIA assassin.
Miramax and Paramount will co-produce the show. Ray Donovan executive producer David Hollander will be the showrunner alongside Jon Worley (Justified), who penned the pilot.
Barris’ memoirs have been adapted once before by George Clooney, in his directorial debut, back in 2002 for the film with the same title. That one starred Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore. It didn’t do too well at the box office but remains arguably Clooney’s second best-reviewed directorial effort after Good Night And Good Luck.
Barris’ “unauthorised autobiography” remains a bizarre oddity that studios have been trying to tackle since the rights were purchased in the late 80s. Perhaps a series will allow Timberlake and co. to really dive into Barris’ headspace and why someone as wealthy and successful as him would feel the need to make something like that up (which he admitted while promoting the book in 1984).
Considering Timberlake’s own multi-pronged celebrity image, he can probably relate to the strange things that fame and success do to a person.
This is just the latest project that’s been given the greenlight as Apple seek to compete in the same space as big dogs such as Netflix, Amazon, and Disney.
Other upcoming shows for the nascent streaming platform include a miniseries adaptation of Stephen King‘s Lisey’s Story, sci-fi series Foundation, and a TV adaptation of The Mosquito Coast, which premieres later this month.
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