Amazon Studios originally made the pilot for Sneaky Pete, a con artist drama starring Giovanni Ribisi and Bryan Cranston, available to stream in August of 2015. A long sixteen months later, it finally has a trailer and release date. Sneaky Pete will drop all nine of its episodes on January 13th, and will be available to stream via Amazon Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Austria.
Sneaky Pete tells the story of Marius (Ribisi), a con-man with nowhere to go who assumes the identity of his prison cell mate Pete. Marius then “reunites” with Pete’s family following a 20-year estrangement, quickly getting pulled into their own web of both love and lies. When gangster Vince (Cranston) holds Marius’ brother hostage to get back what Marius owes him, Marius is torn between two families: Pete’s and his own. Check out the trailer below:
Sneaky Pete was given a series order 15 months ago (only three weeks following its pilot debut), so it’s strange that it’s taken this long for it to drop on Amazon. The point of the Amazon Original Series model is to give viewers a chance to watch and review pilots in order to determine which ones might be the most successful before spending money on a full or partial season order.
Does this enthusiasm dwindle at all when there is such a gap between the pilot debut and the full series premiere? With a project involving Breaking Bad’s Cranston, maybe not. The pilot for Sneaky Pete is not only Amazon’s most-reviewed pilot, with over 18,000 reviews, but also highly reviewed, with an average rating of 4.7 stars. Part of the delay could have something to do with the behind-the-scenes replacement of original showrunner David Shore (House) with Graham Yost (The Americans).
The Amazon series also stars Marin Ireland (Side Effects), Margo Martindale (The Americans), Peter Gerety (Prime Suspect), Libe Barer (Parenthood), Shane McRae (Still Alice), and Michael Drayer (Mr. Robot).
Sneaky Pete also has some impressive behind-the-scenes cred. The pilot was directed by Seth Gordon, who is also helming the new Baywatch movie. The pilot was written by Shore and executive producers include Justified’s Michael Dinner and Fred Golan.
Here’s the official synopsis:
In Sneaky Pete, con man Marius, with nowhere else to turn, takes cover from his past by assuming the identity of his cellmate, Pete, and then “reunites” with Pete's estranged family—who have no reason to suspect he's not their long-lost loved one. When a gangster holds his brother hostage for ransom, Marius must find a way to free him while at the same time struggling to keep his lies from backfiring. Meanwhile, his new “relatives” are a colorful group who give him a taste of the loving family he's never had, but have secrets and lies of their own that threaten to drag Marius into a world every bit as dangerous as the one he's trying to escape.
