According to Deadline, Netflix is developing an eight-episode series exploring real-life hostage situations and negotiations. Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man On Wire, Searching For Sugar Man) and Emmy Award-winning cousin Jonathan Chinn’s Lightbox will team up with Doug Liman’s Hypnotic to produce the series, currently called Captive (Making A Hostage is only what Netflix executives call it around the office).
“Hostage-taking is an issue that people are familiar with, apart from those directly involved, nobody really knows much about,” Simon and Jonathan Chinn said, clearly convinced that their show has more to offer than the Denzel Washington-starring John Q—and probably being right about that. They added, “Each episode of Captive will reflect the tension that arises from the life and death stakes involved but also truly reveal the complexity inherent in every hostage crisis.”
Apparently, the producers have gained privileged access to some of the most challenging hostage negotiations of recent times. Each episode will look at a scenario from various perspectives, including those of victims and their families, the negotiators, business leaders, government officials, and the hostage-takers themselves. There’s no word yet on when the series will premiere, but as with Making A Murderer, look for it to start streaming near a holiday so that you have ample time to negotiate control of the family TV for hours on end.