Netflix Sets New Series From “Narcos” Showrunner, Eric Newman

Eric Newman. Photo by Matt Baron/Shutterstock (10550272bm)

Narcos: Mexico showrunner Eric Newman will executive produce a new limited series on the origins of the opioid crisis for Netflix.  

Painkiller will be penned by Emmy-winning writing duo Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. The two will also serve as showrunners and executive producers on the series. Alex Gibney will also executive produce. Peter Berg is attached to direct all eight episodes of the series.

“I’m grateful to Micah & Noah, and Alex for bringing this story to me. Noah and Micah’s narrative of how it happened, based on the spectacular reporting of Patrick Radden Keefe and Barry Meier, is heartbreaking and terrifying. I’m honored to be working with the great Alex Gibney and I’m thrilled that Peter Berg is coming on to direct it.”

“I am really charged to be a part of such an in-depth exploration of the genesis of the opioid travesty,” Berg said. “Companies that profit off of death and addiction are fair game to me when it comes to illuminating the realities of how they go about their business.”