Scarlett Johansson will take on her first lead role in a TV series — and simultaneously revisit one of the first roles of her career.
Johansson will star in and executive produce just cause, a limited series at Amazon’s Prime Video based on a 1992 novel by John Katzenbach. The streamer has given a straight to series order to the project from Warner Bros. TV and writer Christy Hall (I Am Not Okay With This).
The novel was previously adapted for a 1995 feature film starring Sean Connery. Johansson, in one of her first movie roles, played the daughter of Connery’s character.
The series version of just cause will center on Madison “Madi” Cowart (Johansson), a reporter for a Florida newspaper who’s assigned to cover the final days of a death row inmate and comes to believe the prisoner’s claims of innocence.
Johansson’s These Pictures banner is producing with Warner Bros. TV. Hall will executive produce along with Johansson and These Pictures’ Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn. The company’s head of television, Zara Duff, will oversee the project.
Johansson is currently filming Project Artemis for director Greg Berlanti and Apple TV+. The two-time Oscar nominee also has Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and Kristin Scott Thomas’ My Mother’s Wedding on deck and ended her run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2021’s Black Widow. She is repped by CAA and Yorn Levine.
Hall is repped by CAA, Grandview and attorney Miles Metcoff.
deadline first reported the news.