Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll To Star & EP Netflix’s ‘Man On Fire’ TV Adaptation; Steven Caple Jr. To Direct

Rosy Cordero

10 June 2024 at 1:30 pm·2-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-winning actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll (Wonder Man, Watchmen) will star in and executive produce Netflix’s upcoming series Man on Fire. The project was ordered by the streamer in March.

The eight-episode drama series is an adaptation based on A.J. Quinnell’s Man on Fire and The Perfect Kill, the first two books in Quinnell’s five-book series previously adapted to film in 2004 starring Denzel Washington and in 1987 in an Italian film of the same name. Director Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Creed II) will direct episodes 1 and 2 of the latest incarnation and also serve as executive producer.

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In the new series, Abdul-Mateen II will lead as John Creasy, a once high-functioning and skilled Special Forces mercenary known for surviving even the most desolate of situations. Creasy is now plagued with intense PTSD. Determined to overcome his personal demons, he sets out on a path to redemption. But before he can adjust to this new life, he finds himself back in the fire, fighting harder than ever.

Kyle Killen (Fear Street) is the writer, executive producer and showrunner. Executive producers are Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Natalie Lehmann for New Regency Productions, which controls rights to the IP and financed the 2004 film; Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and Tracey Cook for Chernin Entertainment; and Killen and Scott Pennington for Chapter Eleven. Caple, Ed McDonnell, Michael Polaire and Abdul-Mateen II will also executive produce alongside Stacy Perskie who will executive produce for RedRum.

Abdul-Mateen II most recently reprised the role of Black Manta in the 2023 DC film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom alongside Jason Momoa. Up next he can be seeing playing the titular superhero in Marvel’s Wonder Man, a 10-episode series for Disney+. Additional notable credits include Ambulance (2022), The Matrix Resurrections (2021), Candyman (2021) and Aquaman (2018).

On the TV front, Abdul-Mateen II played Cal Abar/Dr. Manhattan in Damon Lindelof’s HBO limited series Watchmen, a role that earned the actor his first Emmy nomination and first win. He was also a series regular in Netflix’s The Get Down created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis.

Abdul-Mateen II is repped by M88, WME and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett and Kole.

Caple made his feature directing debut with The Land, which premiered at Sundance in 2016 and was picked up by IFC Films. Following that success, he went on to helm 2018’s Creed II, the second installment in the franchise led by Michael B. Jordan. Most recently, he directed Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the latest in that long-standing franchise; the film was released in June 2023. He’s represented by Untitled Entertainment, CAA and Hansen, Jacobson, et al.

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