The first images from Paramount Network and Weinstein Television's new drama series Waco hit the internet yesterday, but now the first trailer is here in full force. There's a trend in television lately, a trend that digs up controversial or downright criminal 90s figures and dramatizes their stories. The People v. O.J. Simpson, Manhunt: Unabomber, JonBenet, Law & Order True Crime tackling the Menendez Brothers' murders. Audiences and critics eat it up, so this looks to be more of the same. Taylor Kitsch as the charismatic cult leader David Koresh is but the latest installment in this trend.
The all-star cast also includes Michael Shannon, John Leguizamo, Andrea Riseborough, Rory Culkin, Melissa Benoist, Paul Sparks, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim, and Julia Garner. Waco aims to be a compelling six-part scripted event series based on the controversial and harrowing true story of the 1993 standoff between the FBI, ATF and David Koresh’s spiritual sect in Waco, TX that resulted in a deadly shootout and fire.
Waco is Executive Produced by Weinstein Television, written by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle and directed by John Erick Dowdle. Look for it on Paramount Network--formerly Spike TV--in January 2018.
Take a look at the first trailer for Waco below:
Here's the synopsis for Waco:
In February, 1993, the eyes of the world converged on Mount Carmel, a small religious community located just outside Waco, TX. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) had just conducted a massive raid on David Koresh and his followers, known as the Branch Davidians. After what became the longest gun battle in U.S. law enforcement history, four ATF agents and six civilians were dead and dozens more were wounded. A 51-day standoff ensued, and the conflict ended after an FBI assault led to a fire that engulfed Mount Carmel, killing 76 men, women, and children.
What precipitated the ATF raid, and what transpired over the ensuing standoff, remains one of the most misunderstood stories in American history. Based on two biographies, A Place Called Waco, by Branch Davidian David Thibodeau, one of the nine survivors of the final fire on April 19, 1993, and Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator, written by the FBI’s Head of Crisis Negotiation Unit Gary Noesner, the six-part scripted series "Waco" will forever change the way the dramatic siege will be viewed. A quarter century after this seminal moment in American history, Paramount Network will chronicle this true story told from several perspectives of those who were intimately involved.
