Apple TV+ released a new trailer for Black Bird, an upcoming prison drama starring Taron Egerton (Rocketman) and Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya). Inspired by true events, the series will tell the story of a drug dealer (Egerton) who has to befriend a serial killer (Hauser) in jail and get a confession from him to buy his own freedom.
The trailer introduces us to Jimmy Keene, a high school football hero and the son of a cop who is shockingly sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted for drug dealing. Although Jimmy would serve his sentence in a minimum-security prison, ten years is a long time to waste rotting behind bars. That’s why Jimmy reaches out to his dad and asks if there’s anything he can do to evade his punishment. Unfortunately, the deal he gets is a dangerous one. First, Jimmy needs to be transferred to a maximum-security facility specializing in the criminally insane. Then, he needs to befriend a serial killer, Larry Hall. Finally, Jimmy needs to find out where the killer hid the bodies of 13 young women he supposedly killed. Eager to get out of jail, Jimmy agrees to act as an informant for federal agents.
The trailer also underlines how Hauser is terrifying in the role of Larry. While we are used to seeing Hauser in comedic parts, such as in Cruella and BlacKkKlansman, his performance in Black Bird is nothing less than bone-chilling. In the trailer, the serial killer talks about how he dreams about killing women and how he’s sure it’s all but a dream. So, besides surviving all the dangers we find in a maximum-security prison, Jimmy will also have to watch his back not to become Larry’s next victim.
Black Bird is developed by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island). He adapts Black Bird from the true-crime memoir In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by authors James Keene and Hillel Levin. The first three episodes of Black Bird are directed by Academy Award nominee Michaël R. Roskam (Rundskop). Aside from Egerton and Hauser, the cast also features Sepideh Moafi, Greg Kinnear, and the late Ray Liotta.
Apple TV+ premieres the first two episodes of Black Bird on July 8. The remaining four episodes will roll out weekly. Check out the new trailer below:
Here’s the official synopsis for Black Bird:
Inspired by actual events, when high school football hero, decorated policeman’s son, and convicted drug dealer Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison, he is given the choice of a lifetime — enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), or stay where he is and serve his full sentence with no possibility of parole. Keene quickly realizes his only way out is to elicit a confession and find out where the bodies of several young girls are buried before Hall’s appeal goes through. But is this suspected killer telling the truth? Or is it just another tale from a serial liar? This dramatic and captivating story subverts the crime genre by enlisting the help of the very people put behind bars to solve its mysteries.