Michael Keaton to Star in Upcoming Eight-Episode Hulu Limited Series ‘Dopesick’

Michael Keaton has been snagged by Hulu for their upcoming eight-episode limited series “Dopesick.” The series is based on a bestselling book of the same name written by Beth Macy. The project is a collaboration between Barry Levinson, who is slated to direct, “Empire” co-creator/exec producer Danny Strong, “The Handmaid’s Tale” executive producer Warren Littlefield and Fox 21 Television Studios, Deadline reports.

“Dopesick” takes a look at how the opioid epidemic has ravaged America. According to Deadline, Keaton is slated to play Samuel Finnix, a “doctor who approaches his practice with kindness and compassion, but finds himself embroiled in Big Pharma’s deadly secret.” The series will cover the crisis at every stage, taking viewers from a small, Virginia mining community, to the big offices of the DEA and through to the “opulence of ‘one percenter’ Big Pharma Manhattan,” Deadline notes.

“Although we were sharply aware of and empathetic to the horrifying pain caused by the opioid crisis for millions in this country, we were blown away when Warren Littlefield showed us Beth Macy’s book, ‘Dopesick,’” said Fox 21 president Bert Salke. “Consequently, Danny Strong had been crafting his own telling of the opiate epidemic and in typical Danny form, it was mesmerizing,”

“Dopesick” is expected to premiere next year and will join other Hulu limited series, including “The Act,” “Catch-22” and the upcoming “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “The Dropout.”