Apple TV+ Greenlights Beat the Reaper Series with Will Poulter

Apple TV+ has greenlit a new dramedy series adaptation of Josh Bazell's 2009 debut novel "Beat the Reaper," with actor Will Poulter set to star as the lead and serve as an executive producer.

The series, a joint production between Apple Studios and New Regency, follows Dr. Peter Brown, a talented medical intern working a grueling shift at Boston's most notorious hospital. Brown harbors a dangerous secret from his past, which unravels when a patient recognizes him, thrusting him into a frantic eight-hour ordeal. He must evade federal authorities, mob hitmen, unscrupulous surgeons and a path of fallen gangsters to survive what the story calls "beating the reaper." In the novel, Brown operates under the Federal Witness Protection Program, his former identity as the mafia hitman Pietro Brnwa exposed by a dying mobster patient, forcing him to choose between saving the man's life and safeguarding his own cover.

Sam Catlin, known for his work on "Breaking Bad," "Preacher" and the Apple TV+ series "Sugar," will showrun the project and executive produce it as part of his overall deal with the streamer. Additional executive producers include Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Natalie...