Showtime announced at the beginning of the month that Ghosts of Beirut is in the works. The series is spy drama based off of a true story centering around the search for Imad Mughniyeh, a “deadly Hezbollah mastermind” who “who killed more Americans than any other terrorist before 9/11 as he eluded the CIA and Mossad for over two decades,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Via Showtime, the limited series will cover “one of the greatest espionage stories of modern times” and “features an innovative narrative approach augmented by deep journalistic research and documentary elements, reveals the origins of 21-year old Mughniyeh who emerged from obscurity…”
The trailer is available below. It includes real-life accounts and interviews from the CIA, as well as several action sequences peppered throughout the video. It is told in the perspective of Mughniyeh himself, who appears to be explaining to the audience how everything came to be. He says at the beginning, in Arabic, “I want you to know everything about my life.”
The thriller hails from Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, who are both known for Hit & Run and Fauda. Daniel Dreifuss (No, A Bundle of Sticks) and Greg Barker (The Final Year, Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden) will serve as the executive producers. Barker is also the director of all four episodes of the series. Joëlle Touma (The Insult, The Attack) works as a writer and co-executive producer, alongside co-executive producers Padriac McKinley (Wild Card, Homefront) and Diane Becker (Navalny, Stutz).
Hisham Suleiman (Munich, Fauda) will star as Mughniyeh, also known as the Ghost. Dina Shihabi (Daredevil, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) plays Lena.
The remaining cast for this limited series is Iddo Goldberg (Snowpiercer, Peaky Blinders), Rafi Gavron (Godfather of Harlem, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), Garret Dillahunt (12 Years a Slave, Deadwood), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding, August: Osage County), and Amir Khoury (Fauda, Image of Victory).
Ghosts of Beirut will be available via the Showtime platform on Friday, May 19. You can also watch the series on the air on Sunday, May 21, at 10 pm EST.