Giancarlo Esposito has been set to star in Jigsaw, an interactive heist thriller series from producer Ridley Scott, showrunner Eric Garcia, and Netflix. Ridley Scott has produced a variety of television series that represent many different genres, including Amazon's alternative history show The Man in the High Castle, CBS' legal drama The Good Wife, and the Mary Elizabeth Winstead sci-fi satire BrainDead. He is also known as the director of iconic films like Alien and Blade Runner, as well as the upcoming House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga.
Jigsaw, not to be confused with the Saw sequel of the same name, will push Netflix's recent experimentation with interactive storytelling further than its ever gone before. Previously, Netflix has released interactive "choose your own adventure" stories in single chunks of about 60 to 90 minutes. Their first foray into the format was the Black Mirror special Bandersnatch, which was followed by the wacky Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, which featured guest stars Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe. Both of these specials had a feature that allowed viewers to choose what would happen next via a real-time selection process with a countdown timer.
Per Total Film, Jigsaw is currently shooting in New York. The 8-episode series will span 25 years and be inspired by real events, namely the theft of billions of dollars of bonds during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It will "[embrace] truly nonlinear storytelling - meaning viewers are in control." Netflix has announced that in addition to Giancarlo Esposito, the cast also includes Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Tati Gabrielle, and Jai Courtney. See Netflix's announcement below:
Giancarlo Esposito is perhaps best known for playing the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul villain Gus Fring, but he has also been seen recently as Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian, which will be filming its third season soon. Paz Vega is a Spanish actress who has previously teamed with Netflix on the series The OA. Tati Gabrielle is another Netflix alum, having played the morally grey teen witch Prudence Knight on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Rufus Sewell is already on Ridley Scott's roster, having starred in The Man in the High Castle, but he has also recently appeared in M. Night Shyamalan's horror film Old. Jai Courtney, who played Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, has appeared in many franchise entries including Terminator Genisys, A Good Day to Die Hard, and Divergent.
Jigsaw has certainly gathered an intriguing cast, but what's even more intriguing is how the show will function. Creating a series with multiple episodes that will be controlled by the viewer's choices is a massive undertaking. It is currently unclear exactly how involved viewers will be in the decision-making process. It's possible this selection may just involve something like choosing to follow a specific character through their journey in a certain episode as opposed to another, but if the show functions anything like Netflix's previous interactive outings, it will require untold hours upon hours of footage to properly bring this format to life.
Source: Total Film / Netflix