Oscar and Emmy winner Barry Levinson has been tapped to direct David E. Kelley’s The Missing, Peacock’s eight-episode series based on Israeli crime writer Dror A. Mishani’s international bestselling novel The Missing File. Levinson will direct multiple episodes, including the first episode, and executive produce the series from Kelley, Keshet Studios and Universal Television
Written by Kelley, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer, The Missing tells the story of Detective Avraham (Jeff Wilbusch), whose belief in mankind is his superpower when it comes to uncovering the truth. Guided by a deep sense of spirituality and religious principles, Avraham is left to question his own humanity when a seemingly routine investigation turns upside down.
Previously announced Juliana Canfield also stars as Janine Harris, a newly-minted NYPD detective, along with Karen Robinson as NYPD Captain Helen Davies and Michael Mosley as Detective Earl Malzone.
Executive producing alongside Kelley and Levinson are Matthew Tinker, Jonathan Shapiro and Mishani as well as Keshet’s Peter Traugott, Alon Shrutzman, Avi Nir and Karni Ziv. The Missing is produced by Keshet Studios, the U.S. production arm of Keshet International, and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studios Group.
Originally published in Hebrew in 2011 and in the US by HarperCollins in 2013, The Missing File ithe first in a series of novels featuring police inspector Avraham Avraham. The novels were translated into more than 20 languages and won numerous international awards, including Sweden’s prestigious Martin Beck Award (for Best Translated Crime Novel), and the Grand Prix du Meilleur Polar in France. The last novel in the series, Conviction, was published in Israel earlier this year and will be published in English in the summer of 2022. Mishani’s stand-alone crime novel, the international bestseller Three, is also under development with Keshet International in the UK.
Levinson was recently nominated for a DGA award for his work on Dopesick, the praised Hulu limited series which earned Michael Keaton a SAG Award for his performance, and co-creator exec producer Danny Strong the Scripter Award for television. Levinson’s latest film, The Survivor, starring Ben Foster, premieres on HBO on April 27. His other upcoming projects include the Apollo 11 limited series One Giant Leap, and the film Francis and The Godfather, about the making of the Paramount classic. Levinson is repped by WME and attorney Barry Hirsh.