Havana Rose Liu to Star in FX Crime Drama Pilot from Hiro Murai and Wong Kar Wai
Havana Rose Liu will star in a new crime drama pilot for FX built around a petty criminal who stumbles into power and danger.
Deadline reported the casting as an exclusive on 9 October. The project brings together director Hiro Murai and filmmaker Wong Kar Wai. It is set up at FX as a pilot, meaning a single trial episode shot before the channel decides whether to commission a full series.
Casting the lead is often the signal that a pilot is moving toward production. Here that central performance is Liu, whose character sits at the heart of the story. The announcement names her as the star, rather than as part of a wider ensemble.
The story centres on a small-time criminal who inherits a share in a mysterious and powerful corporation. The inheritance changes her standing overnight. It also puts her in the path of a ruthless elite determined to protect its own interests. That clash between an outsider and an entrenched power is the engine of the pilot.
Murai is attached to direct the pilot. The script comes from Charles Yu and Julia Cho, working from an original story by Wong Kar Wai. That chain of credits matters in television. The story origin sets the world and premise, the script builds dialogue, scenes and structure, and the director shapes the finished look and performances on set.
The pilot comes from Searchlight Television, the production company behind the project. Yu, Cho, Murai, Wong, Carver Karaszewski, Claudia Shin, Kate Dean and Paul Schwartzman are all named as executive producers. That title, in TV terms, covers the senior team who oversee creative choices and the business of getting the episode made.
Filming is scheduled to take place in Bangkok later in October. A location shoot of this kind brings together cast, crew and sets for several weeks to make that one trial episode. The city provides the backdrop for the world Yu, Cho, Murai and Wong have developed. No air date has been set.
For viewers, this means waiting to see how the trial episode turns out. FX will review the finished pilot before making a call on a series. No series order has been announced. If it moves forward, further casting, episode counts and release plans would follow in due course. If not, the pilot remains a one-off that never reaches the screen.
