Toni Collette (United States of Tara), Merritt Wever (Godless) and Kaitlyn Dever (Last Man Standing) have been cast in Unbelievable, an eight-episode Netflix limited series from Erin Brockovich writer Susannah Grant, CBS TV Studios, studio-based producers Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly (Masters of Sex, Elementary) and Katie Couric. In addition, Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) is set to direct and executive produce the first three episodes.
Co-written by Grant, who will serve as showrunner, Michael Chabon (John Carter) & Ayelet Waldman (Applebaum), Unbelievable is based on The Marshall Project and ProPublica Pulitzer Prize-winning December 2015 article, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape,” written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong, and the “This American Life” radio episode about the same case, “Anatomy of Doubt.” It tells the true story of Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped, and the two female detectives who followed a twisting path to arrive at the truth.
Collette and Wever will play detectives whose lives become intertwined in their mutual pursuit of a possible serial rapist. Dever’s character was not revealed.
Grant, Chabon, Waldman, Timberman, Beverly and Couric executive produce. Timberman & Beverly and Couric had been independently pursuing the rights to “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” and decided to join forces on the project.
Collette earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in The Sixth Sense. She also received two Emmy nominations for playing the title role in Showtime’s United States of Tara, and earned a third Emmy nom for Tsunami: The Aftermath. She most recently starred in Wanderlust drama series for Netflix and BBC One.
Wever most recently starred as Agnes in Netflix Western Godless, and will be seen in an upcoming project for Noah Baumbach. She’s known for her role as young nurse Zoey Barkow on Nurse Jackie and recently recurred on The Walking Dead.
Last Man Standing alum Dever will next be seen in feature Beautiful Boy opposite Steve Carrell and in Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner with Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, and J.K. Simmons.
Cholodenko shared an Oscar screenwriting nomination with Stuart Blumberg for their The Kids Are All Right screenplay, and the duo are currently co-writing Paramount’s English-language take on Toni Erdmann, which Cholodenko also will direct. On the TV side, Cholodenko most recently directed and executive produced NBC’s miniseries The Slap and helmed Olive Kitteridge for HBO.
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