According to Variety, Peacock has greenlit a competition series called "Assassins" based on the campus stealth game where you get rid of classmates. Scarlett Johansson is executive producing.
The synopsis calls it a "ruthless game of cunning strategy and wit." The real game uses Nerf guns or water pistols, and the most desperate colleges run plastic spoons and Sharpies. "Cunning strategy" in this format means not getting hit in the face with a foam dart.
Peacock's own comparison seals it: the show is a "similar format" to The Traitors, the Emmy-winning social deduction hit. The Traitors has a castle, daggers, and Alan Cumming in a cape. Assassins has a quad and foam darts. One is a medieval mystery, the other is recess with no host announced.
Johansson's slate is the real story. She is also executive producing a comedy from her husband Colin Jost and The Office alum Danny Chun, which the announcement describes as "made outside of the Hollywood studio system and financed with brand deals." The pipeline: a Nerf gun elimination game, a brand-deal sitcom, and Black Widow in between. The franchise is not the movie, it is the schedule.
YOUR TURN: The game is already a global phenomenon and the weapons list includes plastic spoons. What is the minimum budget for a season of Assassins?
Comments (1)