Summer has officially begun and streaming platform, AMC+, has plenty of original programming they’ll be premiering for the season. With the temperature rising, it might not be a bad idea to spend at least some time indoors to catch these exciting new series and films.
The North Water is a five-part original drama arriving on AMC+ starring BAFTA-winner Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, Godless), Golden Globe®-winning actor Colin Farrell (In Bruges, True Detective), and SAG Award-winner Stephen Graham (Line of Duty, Boardwalk Empire). It is based on the critically acclaimed, best-selling novel by Ian McGuire, and adapted and directed by Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Looking).
To coincide with Comic-Con@Home, AMC+ will have several genre related debuts for July. Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike) stars in the superhero film, Archenemy. A new series of specials entitled The Walking Dead: Origins will focus on fan-favorite characters Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride). In addition, the panels from Comic-Con@Home can be accessed on the streamer the day after they’re available from Comic-Con.
Other series premiering on AMC+ in July include the gripping six-part revenge thriller The Beast Must Die, starring BAFTA Award-winning actor Jared Harris (Chernobyl, Mad Men) and Critics Choice nominee Cush Jumbo OBE (The Good Wife, The Good Fight) and the new half-hour, stop-motion animated baby doll series Ultra City Smiths, featuring an all-star voice cast.
Check out details of the above programming below.
Archenemy– premieres Thursday, July 1
Streaming exclusively on AMC+, Archenemy is a superhero action film about Max Fist (Manganiello), a man who claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space and lost his superpowers when he landed on Earth. No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster. Today, Max and Hamster take to the streets to wipe out the local drug syndicate and its vicious crime boss, The Manager.
The Beast Must Die – premieres Monday, July 5
The Beast Must Die is a modern retelling of the Nicholas Blake novel (pseudonym of British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis CBE) taken from his Nigel Strangeways series. After learning the police investigation into the fatal hit and run of her young son Martie has been dropped, Frances Cairnes (Jumbo) takes matters into her own hands. Posing as a novelist researching a new murder-mystery, Frances ingratiates herself with the family of George Rattery (Harris), the man she suspects is responsible, and sets a plan in motion to kill him.
She’s tracked by detective Nigel Strangeways (Billy Howle, The Serpent), who has reason to believe his department covered up George’s involvement in the incident. Suffering from PTSD following the recent death of his partner, Strangeways throws himself into pursuing justice for Martie. But when he discovers an “undercover” Frances living with George and his family, Strangeways finds himself working to both prove George’s guilt and head off Frances’s plans for revenge before anyone else dies.
The North Water – premieres Thursday, July 15
Set in Hull, England, and on the ice floes of the Arctic in the late 1850s, the series tells the story of Patrick Sumner (O’Connell), a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as the ship’s doctor on a whaling expedition to the Arctic. But the ferocity of the elements is matched by the violence of his crew mates, particularly Henry Drax (Farrell), a harpooner and distinctly brutal force of nature. As the true purpose of the expedition becomes clear, confrontation between the two men erupts, taking them on a journey far from solid ground and way beyond the safe moorings of civilization.
The North Water’s location work took place primarily in the Arctic, shooting on the frozen seas north of the Svalbard Archipelago. The cast and production team sailed as far as 81 degrees north to film sequences in the pack ice, the furthest point north it is believed a drama series has ever filmed before. The North Water was made by See-Saw Films for the BBC.
The Walking Dead: Origins– premieres Thursday, July 15
As fans gear up for the highly anticipated new season of The Walking Dead, AMC+ will debut The Walking Dead: Origins, a series of specials offering an in-depth exploration of some of the franchise’s most celebrated characters – Daryl (Norman Reedus), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and Carol (Melissa McBride).
Each episode will chart the story of the zombie apocalypse from the point of a view of a single character, featuring new interviews and narration from the actors that portray these icons along with scenes showing the most pivotal moments of their journeys so far. Accompanying each special will be a‘Best Of’ Collection, featuring fan-favorite episodes for each character.
Ultra City Smiths – premieres Thursday, July 22
The new AMC+ Original Ultra City Smiths unfolds via stop-motion animated baby dolls repurposed as a grown-up cast of characters. From AMC Studios and created by Steve Conrad (Patriot, Perpetual Grace) and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (Robot Chicken), the series hinges on an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of fictional metropolis Ultra City’s most famous magnate, Donovan Smith (John C. Reilly, Moonbase 8, Ralph Breaks the Internet).
Two intrepid detectives, David Mills (Jimmi Simpson, Westworld, Black Mirror), and Gail Johnson (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dolemite Is My Name, The United States vs Billie Holiday), follow the case, rallying to fight against their city’s dangerous corruption, at a high cost to themselves and their families, all in pursuit of a gentler place to call home.
The series stars Kristen Bell (Queenpins, The Good Place, Veronica Mars), Dax Shepard (Parenthood, Armchair Expert), Alia Shawkat (Search Party, Arrested Development), Tim Meadows (Schooled, Saturday Night Live), Luis Guzmán (Shameless, Traffic), Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live, Toy Story 4), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Cheers), and Jason Mantzoukas (Big Mouth, Infinite).
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