The first trailer for the eight-episode special event original drama series Manhunt: Unabomber has just made its way online. Starring Captain America: Civil War supporting player Paul Bettany as real-life American serial killer and domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski and Avatar lead actor Sam Worthington as FBI agent Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald. Tasked with hunting down Bettany as Kaczynski, Worthington is sure to turn in a worthwhile TV performance as Fitzgerald in the forthcoming small screen production.
Between 1978 and 1995, the real life Unabomber killed 3 people and injured 23-three others as part of a nationwide bombing campaign designed to disrupt the lives and work of those directly involved with the technology industry. Once a mathematical prodigy with a promising academic career in 1969, homegrown American terrorist Ted Kaczynski was eventually arrested thanks in part to the efforts of FBI agent Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald – a story that will soon be cinematically retold in Manhunt: Unabomber.
In the footage featured above, potential viewers of the Discovery series can get their first look at all of the things that the original drama series will soon have to offer potential viewers. Directed and executive produced by showrunner Greg Yaitanes and created by co-executive producer Andrew Sodroski, Manhunt: Unabomber is sure to be an item of conversation when it premieres later this summer.
Ostensibly serving to explore the extent to which the Unabomber was motivated by his own disaffection with the degree to which industrialization and modern technologies were eroding human freedoms, Manhunt: Unabomber appears to be a relatively melodramatic take on the lethal serial bomber. And with Bettany portraying the title role, Worthington and company should have no problem at all in delivering a worthwhile small screen event worth watching.
It’s always tricky to make a real-life horror story like the one soon to be depicted in Manhunt: Unabomber not come off as opportunistic or exploitative but, Bettany and Worthington are always captivating performers to watch, and with any luck Discovery will manage well enough in producing an entertaining take on the real-life story that stands behind their forthcoming special event series without offending any potential viewers or raising the ire of any preemptive critics. And with the addition of Greg Yaitanes behind the camera, fans of visually impressive crime stories like Banshee and Quarry will have another reason to tune in to this account of a manhunt.
Manhunter: Unabomber will premiere on Discovery at 9pm EST starting August 1, 2017.
Next: Discovery’s Unabomber Drama Manifesto Casts Sam Worthington
Source: Discovery