Hulu Presents Upcoming New Original Series “Catch-22,” “Shrill,” “The Act,” “Ramy” and Official Sundance Selection Documentary “Ask Dr. Ruth”

Today, during the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, Hulu’s Senior Vice President of Originals, Craig Erwich, presented the company’s lineup of upcoming original programming, including Catch-22, George Clooney’s first-ever project for a streaming service, and official Sundance Selection Ask Dr. Ruth, which will join the company’s collection of critically-acclaimed original documentary features. In addition, Erwich announced two new Hulu Original series orders, a brand new partnership with Marvel Television and upcoming premiere dates for several of the company’s new and returning series.

“Hulu is taking big swings on bold and brand-defining stories that reflect the culture and inspire conversation. The series and films we’re presenting today come from many of the biggest storytellers and fresh new voices in entertainment, and reflect why Hulu is a home for creators to do their very best work,” said Erwich.

Announcements revealed from the stage today include:

Hulu Confirms New Series Orders for Reprisal and The Great

Today Hulu expanded its growing originals slate with series orders for Reprisal and The Great. The series’ will go into production later this year with Reprisal premiering in 2019 and The Great in 2020.

Reprisal is a hyper-kinetic revenge tale following a relentless femme fatale (Abigail Spencer) who, after being left for dead, leads a vengeful campaign against a bombastic gang of gear heads.

The drama series stars Spencer, Rodrigo Santoro, Mena Massoud, Madison Davenport, Rhys Wakefield, David Dastmalchian, W. Earl Brown and Gilbert Owuor. Reprisal is created, written and executive produced by Josh Corbin. Warren Littlefield, Barry Jossen and Jonathan van Tulleken, who also directed the pilot, serve as executive producers. Ann Johnson and Graham Littlefield serve as co-executive producers. The series is produced by A+E Studios in association with The Littlefield Company.

The Great is a genre bending, anti-historical ride through 18th Century Russia following the wildly comic rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great.

The series stars Elle Fanning as Catherine, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge and Sacha Dhawan.

The Great is created, written and executive produced by Tony McNamara and executive produced by Marian Macgowan, Thruline’s Josh Kesselman and Ron West, Echo Lake’s Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding, Elle Fanning and Matt Shakman, who also directed the pilot.

Reprisal and The Great will join Hulu’s upcoming slate of bold, relevant stories alongside Veronica Mars; Four Weddings and a Funeral from Mindy Kaling; Wu-Tang: An American Saga from Brian Grazer and The RZA; and Little Fires Everywhere from Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

New Partnership with Marvel Television Brings Four Adult Animated Series and a Special to Hulu Originals Slate

Hulu has entered into a new partnership with Marvel Television, one of the most renowned global brands in entertainment, to create four new Hulu original adult animation series based on popular Marvel Television characters Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K, Marvel’s Hit-Monkey, Marvel’s Tigra & Dazzler Show and Marvel’s Howard The Duck. Joining Hulu’s vast collection of animated content, the four originals will culminate in a special, Marvel’s The Offenders.

Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. centers around an egomaniacal supervillain with a really big head and a really little body, who struggles to maintain control of his evil organization and his demanding family. Writers Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt will also executive produce along with Jeph Loeb.

Marvel’s Hit-Monkey tells the tale of a wronged Japanese snow monkey, mentored by the ghost of an American assassin, as he cuts a wide swath through the Tokyo underworld in this darkly cinematic and brutally funny revenge saga. Writers Josh Gordon and Will Speck will executive produce along with Jeph Loeb.

Marvel’s Tigra & Dazzler Show is a story about two woke superheroes and best friends, Tigra and Dazzler, as they fight for recognition among powered people who make up the eight million stories in Los Angeles. Writers Erica Rivinoja and Chelsea Handler serve as executive producers along with Jeph Loeb.

Marvel’s Howard The Duck is trapped in a world he never made, but America’s favorite fighting fowl hopes to return home with the help of his unstoppable gal pal Beverly before the evil Dr. Bong can turn him the crispiest dish on the menu. Writers Kevin Smith and Dave Willis will also executive produce along with Jeph Loeb.

Marvel’s The Offenders, is a story in which nobody asked them to – and we’d be better off if they didn’t – but MODOK, Dazzler, Tigra, Hit Monkey and Howard the Duck are all forced to team up in order to save the world and certain parts of the Universe. Jeph Loeb will executive produce.

Hulu Reveals Premiere Dates for Upcoming 2019 Originals

In partnership with Blumhouse Television, Hulu’s Into The Dark horror event series will debut two new installments: April Fools’ Day-themed I’m Just F*cking With You on Friday, April 5 and Mother’s Day-themed All That We Destroy on Friday, May 3. From prolific, award-winning producer Jason Blum’s independent TV studio, the Into the Dark series includes 12 feature-length episodes, released each month and inspired by a holiday, featuring Blumhouse’s signature genre/thriller spin on the story.

I’m Just F*cking With You, which is an upcoming SXSW(R) Narrative Spotlight feature, tells the story of a man and his sister on the way to a family wedding, who endure a night of increasingly frightening practical jokes during a one-night stay at a secluded motel.

The installment stars Keir O’Donnell, Hayes MacArthur and Jessica McNamee, written by Gregg Zehenter & Scott Barkan and directed by Adam Mason. Deftones’ Chino Moreno will serve as a composer for the episode.

All That We Destroy follows a geneticist who fears that her son may be becoming a serial killer and creates a group of clones in an attempt to cure him of his psychopathic tendencies. Therefore allowing him to relive the murder of his first victim.

The installment stars Samantha Mathis, Israel Broussard, Aurora Perrineau, Dora Madison and Frank Whaley, written by Sean Keller and Jim Agnew and directed by Chelsea Peters.

Upcoming comedy RAMY will debut all 10 episodes on Friday, April 19. Ramy Hassan (Ramy Youssef) is a first generation Egyptian-American who is on a spiritual journey in his politically-divided New Jersey neighborhood. RAMY will bring a new perspective to the screen as it explores the challenges of what it’s like being caught between a Muslim community that thinks life is a moral test and a millennial generation that thinks life has no consequences.

The series stars Youssef, Mohammed Amer, Hiam Abbass, Amr Waked, May Calamawy, David Merheje, Laith Nakli and Steve Way.

RAMY is written, executive produced, created by and starring Youssef, and executive produced by Jerrod Carmichael, A24’s Ravi Nandan, showrunner Bridget Bedard and co-creators Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, and produced by A24.

Ask Dr. Ruth, the latest documentary to join Hulu’s slate will debut on Hulu on Friday, May 10 with a 20-plus market theatrical release on Friday, May 3. Ask Dr. Ruth chronicles the incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America’s most famous sex therapist. With her diminutive frame, thick German accent and uninhibited approach to sex therapy and education, Dr. Ruth transformed the conversation around sexuality. As she approaches her 90th birthday and shows no signs of slowing down, Dr. Ruth revisits her painful past and unlikely path to a career at the forefront of the sexual revolution.

Ask Dr. Ruth is directed by Ryan White and produced by Rafael Marmor, White, Jessica Hargrave and Christopher Leggett.

The highly anticipated limited series Catch-22 will debut with all six episodes on Friday, May 17. Based on Joseph Heller’s seminal novel of the same name, Catch-22 is the story of the incomparable, artful dodger, Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), a US Air Force bombardier in World War II who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy, but rather his own army which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to avoid his military assignments, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule which specifies that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers which are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind; a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but a request to be removed from duty is evidence of sanity and therefore makes him ineligible to be relieved from duty.

The cast includes Abbott (Yossarian), Kyle Chandler (Colonel Cathcart), George Clooney (Scheisskopf), Hugh Laurie (Major de Coverley), Giancarlo Giannini (Marcello), Daniel David Stewart (Milo), Rafi Gavron (Aarfy), Austin Stowell (Nately), Graham Patrick Martin (Orr), Gerran Howell (Kid Sampson), Jon Rudnitsky (McWatt), Kevin J. O’Connor (Korn), Pico Alexander (Clevinger), Tessa Ferrer (Nurse Duckett), Lewis Pullman (Major Major), Josh Bolt (Dunbar), Jay Paulson (Chaplain), Julie Ann Emery (Marion) and Grant Heslov (Doc Daneeka).

Catch-22 is executive produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov on behalf of Smokehouse Pictures, along with Richard Brown and Steve Golin on behalf of Anonymous Content. Luke Davies and David Michôd are co-writers and executive producers for the series.

The six-part limited series from Paramount Television and Anonymous Content is directed by Clooney, Heslov and Ellen Kuras, who also serves as producer. Each directed two episodes.

Award-winning, hit drama series, The Handmaid’s Tale, will return for season three on Wednesday, June 5 with three new episodes, and subsequent episodes released every Wednesday only on Hulu.

The 13-episode third season of The Handmaid’s Tale is driven by June’s resistance to the dystopian regime of Gilead and her struggle to strike back against overwhelming odds. Startling reunions, betrayals, and a journey to the terrifying heart of Gilead force all characters to take a stand, guided by one defiant prayer: “Blessed be the fight.”

The Handmaid’s Tale comes to Hulu from MGM Television and is created, executive produced and written by Bruce Miller. Executive produced by Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Ilene Chaiken, Eric Tuchman and Mike Barker. MGM serves as the international distributor for the series. The Handmaid’s Tale stars Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley and Bradley Whitford.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyUr_-jxWZA

Previously announced, new comedy series Shrill starring Aidy Bryant will debut all six episodes on Wednesday, March 15. Shrill follows Annie (Bryant), a fat young woman who wants to change her life – but not her body. Annie is trying to start her career while juggling bad boyfriends, a sick parent and a perfectionist boss.

Shrill stars Bryant, Lolly Adefope, Luka Jones, Ian Owens and John Cameron Mitchell.

The series is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, Elizabeth Banks, showrunner Ali Rushfield, Lindy West, Andrew Singer of Broadway Video and Max Handelman of Brownstone Productions. Rushfield, West and Bryant serve as co-writers. The series is produced by Warner Bros., Broadway Video, and Brownstone Productions. Warner Bros. will serve as the international distributor.

Additionally, Hulu’s upcoming original limited series The Act, will debut Wednesday, March 20 with two episodes, and subsequent episodes released every Wednesday on Hulu. The Act is a seasonal anthology series that tells startling, stranger-than-fiction true crime stories. The first season follows Gypsy Blanchard, a girl trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her overprotective mother. Her quest for independence opens a Pandora’s box of secrets, one that ultimately leads to murder.

The Act stars Patricia Arquette, Joey King, Chloë Sevigny, AnnaSophia Robb and Calum Worthy.

Based on the article “Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered” by Michelle Dean, the series is written and executive produced by Dean and Nick Antosca alongside Greg Shephard and Britton Rizzio who also serve as executive producers.