TV Talk: Apple TV+ series, Amazon movie to film in Pittsburgh

In addition to “Mayor of Kingstown,” currently filming its fourth season locally, and the movie “Hershey,” also now in production, Pittsburgh will soon see the arrival of an Apple TV+ series and an Amazon MGM Studios film.

Pete Davidson (“Saturday Night Live”), Zoe Kravitz (“The Studio”), Nicholas Hoult (“Nosferatu”), Anna Sawai (“Shogun”) and Rhenzy Feliz (“The Penguin”) are expected to star in Amazon’s “How to Rob a Bank,” directed by David Leitch (“The Fall Guy,” “Bullet Train,” “John Wick”) and intended for theatrical release Sept. 4, 2026, prior to streaming, per Deadline.com.

“Bank,” whose plot details are being kept in a vault, begins filming locally in mid-June from a script by Mark Bianculli (“Doc,” “Hunters”). It’s unclear whether “Bank” will be set in Pittsburgh or whether Pittsburgh will play the part of another city.

Apple TV+ confirmed its 10-episode untitled series (formerly known as “Lazarus”) will start shooting locally this summer, likely in mid-July. Both projects have started hiring local crews.

And “Bank” is seeking background actors (as well as stand-ins and photo doubles) of all ages to portray locals, sports fans, motor cross/E-bike/bicycle groups, SWAT/FBI/cop-types, diner patrons, business types and more. Apply online.

Deadline.com reported in February 2023 that “Lazarus” was in development with Tom Hardy and Zazie Beetz slated to star in the co-production from A+E Studios and Range Studios. A conflict with another project resulted in Hardy dropping out. Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”) and Stephen Graham (“Adolescence”) will star alongside Beetz in the series.

Based on a book series by author Lars Kepler (pseudonym for Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril), the Apple show tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who moves to a small Western Pennsylvania town to escape the rat race only to have an imprisoned serial killer, Jurek Walter (Graham), wreak havoc. Lynn sends his daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), to search for Jurek’s last missing victim. Deadline compared the Bauer-Walter dynamic to Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling in filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Silence of the Lambs.”

The Apple drama is written and executive produced by Rowan Joffe (“Tin Star,” “The Ballad of a Small Player”) and John Hlavin (“Shooter,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth”). Tim Van Patten (“Franklin,” “Masters of the Air,” “Black Mirror”) will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.

These two new productions follow indie movie “Hershey,” currently filming in Pittsburgh, starring Finn Wittrock as Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate Co., and Alexandra Daddario as his wife, Catherine “Kitty” Hershey. Recent “Hershey” cast additions include Alan Ruck (“Succession”), Richard Kind (“Only Murders in the Building”), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”) and Helene Yorke (“The Other Two”), per Deadline.com.

With Apple’s series taking place in Western Pennsylvania, it will become the third current show set in the region, although the only one largely filmed locally. Aside from a few on-location shoot days, Max’s Pittsburgh-set ER drama “The Pitt” largely films in California (it’s expected to be back to film in Pittsburgh for a week in September). CBS’s Pittsburgh-set “Watson” makes its home base in Vancouver, Canada, and may come back to film scenes for its second season locally this year.

Channel surfing

Paramount+ with Showtime renewed “The Chi” for an eighth season. … Peacock canceled “Laid” after one season. … Amazon Prime Video’s “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf,” a prequel to 2022’s “The Terminal List,” debuts its first three episodes Aug. 27. “Terminal List: Dark Wolf” stars Taylor Kitsch and Chris Pratt.