For the first time since 2008, Michael Fassbender is going to star in a TV series, as the Oscar-nominated actor is headlining the new TV show The Agency on Paramount Plus with Showtime. Not only that, but he is also collaborating on the series with George Clooney, as both serve as executive producers.
The Agency is an adaptation of the acclaimed French TV series Le Bureau des Légendes (aka The Bureau). This isn't the only French TV show that is getting the Hollywood treatment in the near future, as ABC is also going to be debuting High Potential in fall 2024, based on the French series Haut Potentiel Intellectuel.
Will we be getting The Agency this year as well? We've got everything you need to know about that and all other details of the show directly below.
The Agency release date
At this time there is no set premiere date for The Agency. However, Paramount Plus with Showtime announced that production is underway on the series, so it's not outside the realm of possibility the series could premiere in the final few months of 2024 or early 2025. We'll update this page as info on The Agency release date is revealed.
What we do know about the show's release is that US audiences are first going to be able to stream it on the Paramount Plus with Showtime platform (as long as you're a subscriber), before being able to watch it on traditional TV. For international audiences, including in the UK, the series is going to be exclusively available on Paramount Plus (again, subscription required).
The Agency cast
Fassbender is the star of the series, playing the covert CIA agent Martian. Fassbender is a two-time Oscar nominee (12 Years a Slave, Steve Jobs), returning to the screen in the last year after a nearly four-year gap between projects. Things began to pick up with his pair of 2023 movies, The Killer and Next Goal Wins. In 2024, he has the Sundance hit Kneecap. Other future projects include Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag and now The Agency.
It's been an even longer wait to see Fassbender in a TV series, as this is his first role on TV since 2008's The Devil's Mistress.
Variety has also reported that Jeffrey Wright, who is coming off an Oscar nomination for American Fiction, is set to join Fassbender in the cast. Wright will play Henry, the CIA's director of operations and a mentor to Martian.
Another major star has joined the cast of The Agency, as Richard Gere is set to play the role of Bosko, the London Station Chief with a storied past having served eight years undercover.
UPDATE (July 15): The latest casting news on The Agency reveals that Jodie Turner-Smith, who was most recently seen in the Star War series The Acolyte, is joining the production. According to the official announcement, she is going to be a series regular, playing the role of Sami Zahir, a professor of Social Anthropology who has a history with Martian.
The Agency plot
Le Bureau des Légendes, which premiered in 2015, centered on the daily life and missions of agents for France's security service DGSE, specifically those responsible for training and handling deep-cover agents on long-term missions. It was named one of the top international shows of the decade by the New York Times and "one of the best TV shows in the world" by NPR. Now it is getting a US adaptation.
Here is a synopsis from Paramount Plus with Showtime:
"The series follows Martian (Fassbender), a covert CIA agent ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station. When the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites. His career, his real identity and his mission are pitted against his heart; hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage."
The creatives bringing the series to American audiences are Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (Ford v Ferrari, The Edge of Tomorrow) as showrunners, with BAFTA-winning director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Cyrano), directing and serving as an executive producer. As mentioned, Fassbender and George Clooney are also executive producers on the show.
The Agency trailer
There is no trailer for The Agency right now. When one becomes available we'll add it here.
How to watch Le Bureau des Légendes
If you want to get a sense of what is to come with The Agency by watching the original series, you can find Le Bureau des Légendes on AMC Plus or through digital on-demand platforms in the US. In the UK you can only rent it on Prime Video.
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Michael Balderston
Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.
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