WarnerMedia’s streaming service has given a straight-to-series order to the drama “Tokyo Vice” starring Ansel Elgort, Variety has learned.
The series is based on based on Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction book of the same name, which is a first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. Elgort will star as Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption. The series will chronicle Jake’s daily descent into the neon soaked underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing, and no one is truly what or who they seem.
The series has received a 10-episode order. J.T. Rogers will write the adaptation with Destin Daniel Cretton directing. John Lesher, Emily Gerson Saines, and Elgort will serve as executive producers. Endeavor Content will serve as the studio.
The role will mark the first television role of Elgort’s career. He is known for his Golden Globe-nominated role in “Baby Driver” as well as “The Fault in Our Stars” and the “Divergent” franchise. He will also star in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film remake of “West Side Story.”
Elgort is repped by CAA, Brookside Artist Management, and Morris Yorn.
News of the series order comes as WarnerMedia increases efforts to build out original programming for its streaming service. “Tokyo Vice” is one of the few projects to be ordered to series thus far, along with the romantic comedy anthology “Love Life” starring and executive produced by Anna Kendrick with Paul Feig also executive producing. As Variety exclusively reported on Wednesday, Elizabeth Banks is currently developing a series version of the podcast “Over My Dead Body” for the service, while a “Gremlins” animated series is also in the works.
