With last year’s conclusion of Succession and Barry, the recently-rebranded Max (formerly: HBO Max) is now looking to fill the critically-acclaimed-shaped hole in its heart. But between True Detective: Night Country and The Sympathizer — a new Vietnam War-era spy series starring an extremely chameleonic Robert Downey Jr and Hoa Xuande — it looks like the streaming service has already got their next big ticket dramas covered.
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this A24 project has been described as an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese Communist spy simply known as “The Captain” (Xuande) during the final days of the Vietnam War.
The cast has been filled out by Fred Nguyen Khan as Bon, Toan Le as The General, Duy Nguyễn as Man, Vy Le as Lana, Alan Trong as Sonny, Ky Duyen as Madame (The General’s wife), Sandra Oh as Ms Sofia Mori, Kieu Chinh as The Major’s Mother, Kayli Tran as The Communist Spy, VyVy Nguyen as The Major’s wife, plus Scott Ly as Gunner Dao.
In addition to portraying “several antagonist roles” — ranging from an up-and-coming congressman and CIA operative to a Hollywood power player — Robert Downey Jr has also executive produced The Sympathizer alongside his wife Susan Downey.
The forthcoming limited adaptation has been co-developed and co-created by Don McKellar in collaboration with celebrated South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook of Oldboy, Snowpiercer, and Decision To Leave fame. The duo have also juggled writing, directing, and executive producing duties.
As for a release date, HBO’s The Sympathizer has (at long last) locked in April 14th, 2024. Expect it to hit Australia’s Binge and Foxtel/Foxtel GO around the same time — check out the brand new teaser above and the first teaser below.
