Penny Dreadful - Teaser Trailer - Video
Showtime is a network known for its sly take on dark subject matter, yet the network appears to be going full dark for its latest project. Penny Dreadful is a psychological horror series in the same mold as shows American Horror Story and gothic horror films like The Orphanage.
Created by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator) and executive produced by both Logan and Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty), Penny Dreadful centers on a group of literary horror characters, such as Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster, Dorian Gray, and Count Dracula, as they struggle with being ostracized from Victorian London society. It sounds like a real thriller, with one of the more interesting, high-concept premises for a new show in quite some time. It also has a hell of a cast, to boot, with Josh Hartnett, Eva Green, Billie Piper, Rory Kinnear, Timothy Dalton, Reeve Carney, and Harry Treadaway already signed on for the show. You can watch the first official teaser trailer below:
Official description: In Penny Dreadful, some of literature's most famously terrifying characters -- including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, all brilliantly reimagined in a whole new light -- have become embroiled in Victorian London. The series stars Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Eva Green (Casino Royale) Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights and License to Kill), Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl) and Danny Sapani (The Bill).
The series is a frightening psychosexual thriller created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan's Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street. Of the eight episodes, the first two will be directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, who helmed The Orphanage and the acclaimed film, The Impossible starring Naomi Watts in her Oscar-nominated performance.