Michael Dorman To Headline ‘Joe Pickett’ Drama Series Ordered By Spectrum Originals

EXCLUSIVE: Spectrum Originals has given a 10-episode order to Joe Pickett, an hourlong drama series based on C.J. Box‘s bestselling novels. Michael Dorman (Patriot, For All Mankind) has been tapped for the title role in the project from Waco creators John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, Paramount Television Studios and Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher’s Red Wagon Entertainment.

Joe Pickett follows a game warden (Dorman) and his family as they navigate the changing political and socio-economic climate in a small rural town in Wyoming. Surrounded by rich history and vast wildlife, the township hides decades of schemes and secrets that are yet to be uncovered. The series will air for a nine-month exclusive run on Spectrum.

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“C.J. Box’s brilliant and beloved Joe Pickett novels draw you in with the quiet beauty of the Wyoming setting, but it’s the characters that keep you riveted in their complexity, passion and unique points of view — for better or worse,” said Katherine Pope, Head of Spectrum Originals. “Michael has the intensity, humanity and humor that Joe Pickett demands, and we couldn’t have better partners in the incredible John Erick and Drew Dowdle, Paramount Television Studios and Red Wagon Entertainment to bring this world to life”.

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The Dowdles executive produce with Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher for Red Wagon Entertainment. Box also serves as an executive producer. Production is slated to begin soon in Calgary.

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Box’s novels have sold millions of copies in the U.S. alone and have been translated into 27 languages. This is the second TV series adaptation of Box’s work ordered over the past year. The other, David E. Kelley’s Big Sky, based on Box’s Cassie Dewell novels, has been a breakout hit for ABC.

“C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett novels truly have something for everyone—spellbinding storytelling, multifaceted characters, and of course the breathtaking setting of the Wyoming wilderness—and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Spectrum Originals, Red Wagon and John Erick and Drew Dowdle in bringing these characters to life,” said Paramount Television Studios President Nicole Clemens. “The Dowdles have a sharp instinct for the specificity of this rich world. Joe Pickett is a ‘still waters run deep’ character and so we feel unbelievably fortunate to have Michael Dorman, who brings amazing depth to this character.”

“We fell in love with C.J Box’s Joe Pickett novels because of their nuanced take on morality in a morally ambiguous world,” said creators, writers, directors, showrunners and executive producers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle. “We became fascinated with Joe’s obsession with the ideas of truth, fairness, and the order of things, and perhaps even more fascinated with the trauma that made him that way. These days, there is so much to relate to in the Pickett family’s desire for a simpler life, and also in the notion that unresolved elements of our past tend to follow us wherever we go. Spending the last few years with the Pickett family has been one of the great joys of our careers, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring them to life on screen.”

Dorman is a New Zealand born actor and musician who can currently be seen in Apple’s For All Mankind. On the feature side, Dorman most recently starred opposite Elizabeth Moss in Universal’s The Invisible Man, directed by Leigh Whannell. He also recently starred in Amazon’s critically acclaimed Steve Conrad comedy-drama Patriot, where he also showcased his musical talents.  Dorman is repped by WME, Management 360, Shanahan Management and attorney Jamie Feldman.