Colin Farrell To Star In Oliver North Iran-Contra Limited Series At Amazon

Amazon is developing a limited drama series about Oliver North and the Iran-Contra affair, with Colin Farrell attached to star as North.

Written by Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson (The Callback), the Untitled Oliver North Project follows the Iran-Contra affair through the eyes of a man at the center of it all – Oliver North.

The series will be executive produced by Red Hour’s Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstock. Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) is set to direct.

The Iran-Contra scandal occurred during the Ronald Reagan presidency from August 1985 to March 1987. It involved the United States government selling weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages and to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was at the center of the scandal and was tried in court, with some saying he took the blame and punishment instead of Reagan. North was found not guilty.

“Great projects can stand out for the filmmaker, the talent or the pure originality of the storytelling. Brilliant projects like this stand out by virtue of having all of those elements,” said Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy, Drama and VR, Amazon Studios. “We’re excited to be making stories with Yorgos, Colin, Ben, Nicky from Enzo and Scott’s incredible scripts.”

“I’m really excited to be working with Colin again on something quite different to what we have done so far,” said Lanthimos. “I look forward to joining forces with Ben and Nicky, who had an excellent casting idea and saw the potential of the material early on and Amazon, who has embraced the project with great enthusiasm. It makes me very confident and excited to be working on a script which although based on relatively recent history, feels very fresh and relevant to our times.”

The project was first reported by Deadline’s sister pub Variety.