Lionsgate, AGC Studios turn Gray with Patricia Clarkson, Nathalie Emmanuel

Patricia Clarkson in Sharp Objects

US studio Lionsgate has linked with LA-based AGC Studios for a spy thriller starring Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects) and Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones).

Written by John McLaughlin (Black Swan) and directed by Ruba Nadda (Roswell), Gray is based on an original concept by novelist David Baldacci (Absolute Power).

It stars Clarkson as a CIA spy coming in from the cold after 20 years in hiding, dodging the government agents who suspected her of being a traitor, just as it is discovered that there is a new mole within her old spy network.

The deal between Lionsgate, owner of US cablenet Starz, and AGC will see the latter distribute the series in the US, represented by CAA, with Lionsgate Television handling sales outside of the US.

The project is scheduled to begin production in early 2022. It is being executive produced by AGC Studios chairman and founder Stuart Ford alongside Lionsgate Television president Lourdes Diaz, with Baldacci, Clarkson and Marc Shmuger serving as producers and Matt Bankston as co-executive producer.

The deal, brokered by Lionsgate’s director of acquisitions and content strategy Elliot Brannon, AGC’s senior VP of legal and business affairs Anant Tamirisa and VP of legal and business affairs Meghan Victor, was first reported by Variety.

AGC Studios was founded and launched by Ford in 2017. It recently hired Solstice Studios and Lionsgate alumna Crystal Bourbeau as president of worldwide sales and distribution, reporting to Ford.

Bourbeau oversees the domestic and international sales and distribution of the studio’s film and television slate, including sales to domestic studios, international distributors, broadcasters and both global and regional streaming platforms.