TNT released the first trailer for “True Detective” Season 1 director Cary Fukunaga’s new period drama “The Alienist.”
“The Alienist” stars Daniel Brühl (“Captain America: Civil War”), Luke Evans (“Beauty and the Beast”) and Dakota Fanning (“American Pastoral”), who work together to hunt for a serial killer who’s murdering boy sex workers at the end of the last century.
The term “alienist” is the precursor to “psychiatrist.” The trailer describes it as somebody who dealt with the mentally ill, who “were thought to be alienated from their own nature.” So no, not about aliens.
But the show is based on the best-selling 1994 novel “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr, which was known for blending historical non-fiction and fiction to great effect. Some characters in the book include Teddy Roosevelt — back when he was a police commissioner — and J.P. Morgan.
The show is currently shooting in Budapest, Hungary. Jakob Verbruggen (“Black Mirror”) is at the helm. “The Alienist” is a co-production of Paramount Television and Turner’s Studio T. Fukunaga is executive producing, along with Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”), Hossein Amini (“Drive”), E. Max Frye (“Foxcatcher”) and Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Rosal ie Swedlin are executive producing. Marshall Persinger (“Rectify”) is as co-executive producer.