Bannerman, Grapes of Wrath, and Point Break Updates From AMC
AMC Global Media today announced that AMC Studios had opened a writers’ room to develop a new original series for AMC and AMC+ called Bannerman, based on the popular Bannerman spy novels by bestselling author John Maxim. Filmmaker Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 2) is attached to direct and executive-produce the series.
Craig Silverstein is attached as creator and showrunner. Silverstein was previously a producer, writer, and showrunner on the AMC series Turn: Washington’s Spies and Pantheon, and most recently an executive producer and co-showrunner on multiple seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians for Disney+.
Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead Universe, Creep Show), who has had a longtime deal at AMC Studios, is attached to executive produce with Brian Witten as co-executive producer.
The Bannerman series, which spans five books, centers around charismatic ex-spy John Bannerman. Retired from that gritty and suspenseful world, Bannerman finds himself living in a quiet suburban town but is soon pulled back into the life he’s trying to escape.
AMC Studios is also working with Alcon Entertainment on a Point Break television series. The film, produced by Alcon, mesmerized audiences with its daredevil antics, high-stakes heists, and fantastic performances more than three decades ago. The story picks up 25 years after the film’s ending and centers on a new, dangerous heist crew with ties to the notorious Ex-Presidents gang.
Dave Kalstein (Treadstone, Quantico, NCIS: Los Angeles) is executive producing and writing the project. Scripts for a potential first season are in development, and AMC expects to be in production on this series in Australia later this year, with a 2027 premiere.
Announced at last year’s Upfront Content Showcase, AMC Studios is developing a new anthology franchise built around great American stories, starting with the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath.
Rolin Jones (Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, Friday Night Lights, Boardwalk Empire) is managing this new franchise series and adapting The Grapes of Wrath, with Brett C. Leonard (Fear the Walking Dead, Low Winter Sun) co-writing the first season, and Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Rectify, The Holdovers) and Jill Gillette executive producing.
Jones is fresh off writing and showrunning for The Vampire Lestat, premiering Sunday, June 7, on AMC and AMC+. The company expects to be in production on The Grapes of Wrath early next year.
