Rosario Dawson (Jane the Virgin, Briarpatch, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot) is set to star in the lead role of Ava DuVernay’s DMZ pilot at HBO Max, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The project is based on the comic book of the same name by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli.
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DMZ takes place in a near-future where an American civil war has left Manhattan a demilitarized zone (hence the title) that is isolated from the rest of the world. The story follows a female medic who is desperately searching for her lost son in the DMZ while contending with gangs, militias, and warlords all the while saving lives along the way.
Dawson will play Alma, a fierce medic who saves lives while desperately searching for her lost son. As she contends with the gangs, militias, demagogues, and warlords who now control the lawless island, she becomes the unlikely source of what everyone there has lost: hope.
Filming on the pilot is scheduled to begin in early 2020. DuVernay will follow-up the pilot project with The New Gods, the DC Comics feature adaptation being helmed by DuVernay for Warner Bros.
Robert Patino (Westworld, Sons of Anarchy, Fear Street) will serve as showrunner and executive producer for DMZ. DuVernay will direct and executive produce with Patino. The project comes from DuVernay’s Array Filmworks and Warner Bros. TV.
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DuVernay received a 2017 Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature for 2016’s 13th for which she won an Emmy. DuVernay’s limited series When They See Us also earned three Emmy nominations. Her upcoming slate includes Battle at Versailles and the upcoming TV series Cherish the Day.
