Colin Farrell to star in genre-bending series Sugar at Apple TV Plus

Colin Farrell is headed back to the small-screen for a new scripted Apple TV+ series called Sugar.

Apple acquired the rights to the genre-bending project last December after a bidding war with Netflix, per THR, and will produce the show under its Apple Studios banner.

Any and all details about Sugar’s plot are still being kept heavily under wraps, although Thor’s Mark Protosevich has been confirmed as the series’ creator with City Of God’s Fernando Meirelles stepping in to direct. Farrell, Protosevich, and Meirelles will all serve as executive producers for Sugar alongside Audrey Chon, Deadpool’s Simon Kinberg, Scott Greenberg, and Chip Vucelich.

Farrell’s newest TV role comes just after he was confirmed to be reprising his role as The Penguin in HBO Max’s long-rumored spin-off series of The Batman. Farrell also lended his television talents to the second season of HBO’s True Detective anthology.

The actor most recently brought his talents onscreen for the gripping, futuristic drama After Yang. In the A.V. Club’s review, Jesse Hassenger praised the film, and called Farrell’s understated performance “particularly affecting without [Farrell] appearing to do much acting at all.”

The series marks Apple TV Plus’ second collaboration with Kinberg’s Genre Films studios. Genre Films also produced the Sam Neill-led sci-fi drama Invasion for the streamer. Invasion was recently renewed for a second season by the streamer, per THR.

With the juggernaut success of scripted series like Ted Lasso and Severance, Apple has set its eyes squarely on bumping up original content and renewing expansive, plot-heavy dramas like Slow Horses and Pachinko.

Sugar will join the Apple ranks alongside recently confirmed series’ like Maya Rudolph’s Loot, Surface starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Black Bird, a crime thriller starring Taron Egerton that will feature the late Ray Liotta’s final TV role.