Justin Timberlake Will Play ‘Gong Show’ Host/CIA Assassin In Hourlong Series Project

Eager to bring Justin Timberlake back into the Apple TV + fold after the strong results of the Fisher Stevens-directed dramatic film Palmer in January, Apple won an auction and acquired the script to develop an hour-long drama series that will have Timberlake playing Gong Show host Chuck Barris. The untitled series will be based on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a 1984 memoir in which Barris made suspect claims that being the zany Gong Show host and creator of game shows like The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game was cover for his real job: CIA assassin who took out enemies of the state in the 1960s and 1970s. The book was turned into a film that George Clooney directed with Sam Rockwell playing Barris.

The show is a co-production between Miramax (which released the 2002 film) and Paramount Television Studios. Ray Donovan EP David Hollander will be Executive Producer and showrunner, alongside Jon Worley, who wrote the pilot script. Worley’s credits include Justified, SEAL Team, and Iron Fist. Hollander has an overall deal with Miramax and Paramount Television Studios. They’ll run the show together.

Worley is repped by Capital Creations and attorney Steve Warren at Hansen Jacobson; Hollander by CAA and Hansen Jacobson; Timberlake is repped by WME, LBI and Ziffren Brittenham.

Deadline