Netflix has circled September 21, 2018 on its calendar for the release of the limited series “Maniac,” which stars “Superbad” alums Emma Stone and Jonah Hill.
Set in a world somewhat like our world, in a time quite similar to our time, “Maniac” tells the stories of Annie Landsberg (Stone) and Owen Milgrim (Hill), two strangers drawn to the late stages of a mysterious pharmaceutical trial, each for their own reasons, according to Netflix’s description of the show.
Annie is disaffected and aimless, fixated on broken relationships with her mother and her sister. Owen, the fifth son of wealthy New York industrialists, has struggled his whole life with a disputed diagnosis of schizophrenia. Neither of their lives have turned out quite right, and they are drawn by the promise of a new, radical kind of pharmaceutical treatment — a sequence of pills that Dr. James K. Mantleray (Justin Theroux), claims can repair anything. The lead characters join 10 other strangers at Neberdine Pharmaceutical and Biotech for a three-day drug trial.
Things do not go as planned.
“Maniac” is created by Patrick Somerville and directed by Cary Fukunaga.
The “Maniac” date announcement was one of many made by Netflix Sunday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. Earlier in the day, Netflix unveiled the trailer for Season 2 of Jason Bateman drama “Ozark.”