Justin Timberlake At Center Of Apple Auction Win; He’ll Play ‘Gong Show’ Host/CIA Assassin Chuck Barris In Hourlong Series Project
EXCLUSIVE: Eager to bring Justin Timberlake back into the Apple TV + fold after the strong results of the Fisher Stevens-directed dramatic film Palmer in January, Apple won an auction and acquired the script to develop an hour-long drama series that will have Timberlake playing Gong Show host Chuck Barris. The untitled series will be based on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a 1984 memoir in which Barris made suspect claims that being the zany Gong Show host and creator of game shows like The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game was cover for his real job: CIA assassin who took out enemies of the state in the 1960s and 1970s. The book was turned into a film that George Clooney directed with Sam Rockwell playing Barris.