Justin To Star in HBO's New Thriller

HBO’s pilot about the apocalypse has found its lead: Justin Theroux will star in The Leftovers.

The project is based on the book by Tom Perrotta, who’s a co-writer and executive producer on the show along with Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus, Star Trek into Darkness, Cowboys and Aliens). Stephen King once called the book “the best Twilight Zone episode you never saw.”

The official logline: “The Rapture happens. But not quite like it’s supposed to. This is the story of the people who didn’t make the cut… and a world that will never be the same.”
Theroux plays Kevin Garvey, a town’s chief of police (changed from the town’s mayor in the novel). He’s a father of two, “a man trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy in a world that is starting to completely reject that notion.” The actor has had arcs on NBC’s Parks and Recreation and HBO’s Six Feet Under. Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) will direct the pilot. Berg also has an executive producer credit along with Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger (Cold Mountain, Little Miss Sunshine, Little Children, The Switch) and Sarah Aubrey (Lars and the Real Girl).