Production of the US remake of murder mystery Secrets & Lies is scheduled to start in late July after Disney’s ABC network ordered a 10-episode series.
Produced by Hoodlum Entertainment’s Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield and Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment, the series will use the same cast as the pilot.
Ryan Phillippe stars as Ben, a family man who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime murder suspect. Juliette Lewis plays the lead detective who investigates the cast.
KaDee Strickland plays Ben’s wife. Australian actress Indiana Evans and Belle Shouse are the couple’s daughters.
“The pilot season is extremely tense and there are so many pilots vying for a spot on the schedule at a network like ABC. We're incredibly excited that Secrets & Lies has been picked up to go to series,” Robertson tells IF. “It's such testament to the great work that everyone put in, from the original Australian series which is now on air in several countries through to the US series. This is a very exciting time for Hoodlum.”
The series will shoot in Wilmington, North Carolina, with Barbie Kligman, who wrote the pilot, as the showrunner. The pilot was directed by Charles McDougall, his fifth consecutive pilot that has gone to series following The Good Wife, The Chicago Code, The Mindy Project and Resurrection.
Robertson says no directors are yet attached and other writers are coming on board. Network Ten, which aired the original Secrets & Lies, has first dibs on the US remake.