Academy Award winner Tim Robbins (Mystic River) is set to star in Amazon’s series The Power, based on the 2016 bestselling novel by Naomi Alderman, via Deadline. This news comes as Rainn Wilson (The Office), who was initially cast in Robbins’ role, exited the project after production was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and he became unavailable.
The Power explores what our world might look like if all the teenage girls across the globe suddenly developed the ability to release electrical pulses from their hands at will. Instantly, the power structure is reversed, making females the dominant gender in society and transforming the world into a matriarchal system.
Robbins will play Daniel Dandon, the elitist and self-absorbed Republican governor of Washington state. Also attached to the project is Leslie Mann (Knocked Up), who will play Dandon’s rival Margot Cleary-Lopez, the democratic mayor of Seattle.
The ten-part science-fiction series is currently in production at Sister (production company), with Alderman executive producing. According to Deadline, Alderman additionally helmed the all female writer’s room that wrote the series’ first season.
The series was green-lit in early 2019, according to the following tweet from TV Guide that Alderman reposted.
Joining Alderman as executive producers are Jane Featherstone (producer, Chernobyl), Naomi de Pear (producer, Flowers), Reed Morano (producer, The Handmaid’s Tale) and Claire Wilson (producer, Gangs of London). Tim Bricknell (producer, The Two Faces of January) is additionally attached to the project as a producer according to Deadline.
The Power‘s IMDb page lists a few additional cast members, including Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) as Jos Cleary-Lopez, Pietra Castro (Supergirl) as Izzy Cleary-Lopez, and Nico Hiraga (Booksmart) as Ryan. Several first-timers are also listed in the cast including newcomer Heather Agyepong, who is set to play Ndudi, and newcomer Halle Bush, who is billed as playing Allie.
There is currently no release date set for the series.