LaKeith Stanfield to Star in New Apple TV+ Drama by Kelly Marca & Annapurna

Apple TV+ has confirmed its series order of The Changeling, a drama based on Victor LaVelle's book of the same name, starring LaKeith Stanfield. The series was adapted by Cruella writer Kelly Marcel, who will also serve as showrunner. Malina Matsoukas will direct.

Deadline reports that The Changeling is a fairytale for grown-ups. A horror story, a parenthood fable and a perilous odyssey through a New York City you didn't know existed.

In the novel, Apollo, who will be portrayed by Stanfield, has a baby with his wife, feeling like both a reward and a challenge for the new dad. Apollo, THE SON of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird shortly thereafter. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian's murder.

Annapruna Pictures had acquired the rights to the LaVelle novel in 2017 before being picked up by Apple TV+ in early 2021. Stanfield and Marcel will also serve as executive producers.

Stanfield was most recently seen in Judas and the Black Messiah, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He stars in the upcoming film The Harder They Fall on Netflix, which is slated to be released this fall.