Apple TV+ is transporting viewers into a sky-high crisis with the first trailer for Hijack. The new real-time series sees Idris Elba play seasoned business negotiator Sam Nelson who’s thrown into his tensest situation yet when he finds himself aboard a plane being hijacked. As authorities desperately investigate for answers, he puts a plan into motion to save himself and his fellow passengers even if it risks jeopardizing everyone on board. The trailer highlights the high stakes of the new thriller and the mystery surrounding who’s behind the crisis.

From the opening minutes, the footage demonstrates the personal stakes for Sam who’s just trying to get back home to his family. His attempts to settle in for a normal flight are interrupted as the armed hijackers spring into action mid-flight, forcing everyone back into their seats, taking their phones, and stripping commands from the pilots. The crew on the ground slowly becomes aware of what’s happening and begins investigating while everyone on board begins to fear the worst. Luckily for the passengers, they have the always-versatile Elba on their flight who’s capable of handling negotiations with the hijackers and even finding clever ways to spread messages around the plane to get all the passengers on the same page. He plays a more fragile character this time around, capable of empathizing with and calming those around him with his words.

While chaos takes place on the plane, the situation is also evolving on the ground. A political narrative unfolds as the government processes the demands of the terrorists. Sam begins to realize there’s more than meets the eye with this attack while investigators uncover connections to a group whose tendrils extend all across Europe. Moreover, five of the passengers aboard the plane don’t even exist within government records. Tension will ramp up as the plane gets closer to the end of the flight, springing the military into action as everyone tries to take down the threat and get the passengers home safely.

Who’s Behind Elba’s Real-Time Thriller Hijack?

Hijack looks to capture the same stressful energy as 24 as everyone processes the situation in real-time across seven one-hour episodes. Bringing the series to life is the talented duo of Lupin creator George Kay and BAFTA-nominated The Wrong Mans director Jim Field Smith who are no strangers to making great television together. Last year saw the pair team for Litvinenko, a short series starring David Tenant as the titular Russian defector who famously “solved his own murder” by poison. Before that, they put their heads together for the ambitious Criminal anthology series which created four individual crime procedurals in four distinct countries.

Elba has some award-winning co-stars for Hijack too including The Good Wife Emmy winner Archie Panjabi who plays counter-terrorism officer Zahra Gahfoor. Christine Adams, Max Beesley, Eve Myles, Neil Maskell, Jasper Britton, Harry Michell, Aimee Kelly, Mohamed Elsandel, and Ben Miles round out the cast.

Hijack premieres exclusively on Apple TV+ with two episodes on June 28 with new episodes following every Wednesday.

via Collider