Netflix Orders Drama ‘Painkiller’

Netflix has announced drama “Painkiller” from producer Eric Newman (“Narcos”), which focuses on America’s opioid crisis. Alex Gibney (“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” will serve as executive producer. Eight episodes have been ordered.

Patrick Radden Keefe (“Dirty Money”), who wrote New Yorker’s “The Family That Built An Empire of Pain” and Barry Meier, author of “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceipt and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic” will both consult on “Painkiller.” Their respective master works serve as underlying material for the series.

“Eric Newman has masterfully chronicled the drug trade for years, and now I’m excited to see him join forces with the incredible Alex Gibney, Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster to take a more expansive view of the opioid epidemic,” said Cindy Holland, VP Content at Netflix: “Combined with the directing of Peter Berg, Painkiller promises to be a powerful look behind the headlines of a tragedy happening in real time.”