Screenwriter Brad Ingelsby's follow-up to the hit HBO crime drama "Mare of Easttown" will be filming in the Philadelphia area this year as production ramps up on the project starring Mark Ruffalo.
The new crime drama, tentatively called "Task," was announced in June. The premise revolves around an FBI agent whose task force seeks to break up a string of drug-house robberies, Variety reported in December.
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Over the last month, local agency Heery Loftus Casting posted a series of casting calls on Instagram searching for a variety of roles for the upcoming project. The casting calls say the series will be shooting in the Philadelphia area and the suburbs through August.
In one of the posts, the agency said it's looking for members of the Dominican community and other men of all ethnicities to play "tough criminal types and/or law enforcement types."
Another post seeks a pair of baby twins, while a third is on the lookout for a "REAL courtroom sketch artist" to play a principal role in the series.
The project will be directed by South Philly native Jeremiah Zagar, who also directed "Hustle," the Adam Sandler-led sports drama that was filmed in Philly and the surrounding suburbs. "Mare of Easttown" was directed by Craig Zobel, who's now working on the upcoming Max series "The Penguin," a spinoff of "The Batman" that will star Colin Farrell as the classic villain.
Ingelsby, who grew up in Berwyn and attended Villanova University, signed a three-year deal to develop new projects with HBO following the breakout success of "Mare of Easttown" in 2021. The show's popularity was catapulted by the standout performance of Kate Winslet, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Anthology Series.
The project is expected to return to the suburbs of Delaware County that served as the gritty scenery of "Mare of Easttown."
Variety reported that "Guiding Light" and "Ozark" star Tom Pelphrey had joined the cast of "Task" to play the role of a downtrodden sanitation worker "who has been knocked around by life, but has always gotten back up again."
Ruffalo, who recently starred in "Poor Things" and "The Adam Project," told Deadline it's in the realm of possibility that "Task" will connect with "Mare of Easttown" and unite his character with Winslet's
“At some point those two might run into each other in the future, that’s what they’re saying," Ruffalo said. "It’s not set, nothing’s set."
Winslet has said she would be intrigued by reprising the role of the world-weary police detective Mare Sheehan. She told TVLine she missed the character after the show wrapped.
“I would absolutely love to play Mare again,” Winslet said. “I miss her. I really do. It’s the strangest thing. I feel like I’m in mourning. It was an absolutely wonderful role.”
Ingelsby also told the Hollywood Reporter he was open to expanding the world of "Mare of Easttown," but would need to have a good narrative to do so.
“Kate and I, if we could crack a story that we were really proud of and felt like it was a deserving second chapter in Mare’s journey, then maybe,” Ingelsby said.
Filming for Ingelsby's new project coincides with the ongoing production of Ridley Scott's Apple TV series "Sinking Spring," whose crews have been spotted in Philadelphia and in Bucks County over the last year.