Hulu Greenlights Drama ‘Dopestick’

Hulu has given a straight-to-series order to “Dopestick,” an eight episode limited series based on Beth Macy’s bestselling book “Dopestick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America” and starring Michael Keaton. Written by Danny Strong (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), directed by Barry Levinson, and slated to premiere in 2021, “Dopestick” is described as an ambitious, harrowing, and compelling look into the epicenter of America’s struggle with Opioid addiction. It takes viewers from a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA, and to the opulence of “one percenter” Big Pharma Manhattan.

The logline: The unsparing yet deeply human portraits of the various affected families and their intersecting stories hold up a mirror to where America is right now, while shining a hopeful light on the heroes battling the worst drug epidemic in American history. Keaton will play Samuel Finnix, an old-school doctor who approaches his practice with kindness and compassion, but finds himself embroiled in Big Pharma’s deadly secret.