Onyx Collective Orders The Plot Limited Series

The Plot, a new limited series executive produced by and starring Mahershala Ali, has been greenlit by Disney’s Onyx Collective.

From Endeavor Content, the eight-episode series is an adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Jean Hanff Korelitz. The Plot will stream on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other territories.

The Plot tells a cat-and-mouse story, centered on struggling author Jake (Ali), who is met with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and commits an act of literary theft that changes his life. When someone learns his secret and threatens him, The Plot sees how far Jake will go to protect himself and the life he’s built.

Ali will produce The Plot along with executive producers Mimi Valdés and Amatus Karim Ali through their Know Wonder production company. Abby Ajayi is adapting Korelitz’s novel as executive producer and showrunner. Endeavor Content will produce the series along with Layne Eskridge’s POV and Kristen Campo.

Tara Duncan, president of Freeform and Onyx Collective, said: “I was captivated with Hanff Korelitz’s book The Plot, and Abby’s distinct point of view reinvents the story in a way that spoke to me and our mission at Onyx Collective. There are so many interesting angles and nuances, that and having the creative genius that is Mahershala Ali at the center of this mystery, is just a dream. Kristen and Layne have done a phenomenal job bringing this team together, and I could not be more proud to work alongside them and Endeavor Content to bring this incredible series to our global audience.”

Valdés said: “Hollywood is still not greenlighting enough projects with multidimensional Black characters, stories that simply focus on our humanity. The rarity of a straight-to-series order, especially for BIPOC projects, is not lost on us. We are beyond humbled to work with such an amazing team of collaborators to bring this incredible book to life.”

Eskridge said: “When Kristen Campo sent me The Plot, I devoured it! I’ve been dying to work with Abby Ajayi, and we loved the idea of exploring Jean’s book from the perspective of a Black man, so that we could really debate the themes of authorship, inspiration and who has the right to tell what stories. Mahershala was our dream for the role, and when he and the Know Wonder team signed on, it confirmed that we were building something next level.”

Ajayi said: “I’m thrilled to be adapting Jean’s brilliantly compelling and thrilling novel, which hooked me from its opening pages. From the start, I knew that the peerless Mahershala Ali would be the perfect Jake. I’m excited by the nuance, the humanity and the complexity he’ll bring to the role. Going on this journey with Layne, Kristen and the teams at Know Wonder and Endeavor Content has been a dream. The icing on the cake is finding our home with Tara Duncan at Onyx.”

Campo said: “When I first read The Plot, I was immediately drawn in by Jean’s ability to balance propulsive storytelling and deep character work and saw the possibility of a fantastic screen adaptation for a global audience.”