The man behind some of television’s most heart-pumping adventure thrillers is about to add to his resume. Lionsgate Television is currently in development on a political thriller drama called The Envoy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The scripted series will come from Alexi Hawley, the man behind two lauded shows: ABC‘s The Rookie and Netflix‘s The Recruit, who serves as the creator and showrunner of both series.

The Envoy will be based on Take No Prisoners, a recent Vanity Fair article by Adam Ciralsky that told the story of Roger Carstens. Carstens currently serves as the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, and runs a team that helps secure the release of American hostages in countries across the world. For the article, Ciralsky spent a year embedded with Carstens, witnessing a number of hostage rescue attempts. The show will follow “one fictionalized hostage scenario per season and will be inspired by the article, which provides an in-depth look at the U.S. government’s commitment to freeing hostages,” according to a logline from Lionsgate, which recently optioned the rights to Ciralsky‘s article.

Hawley will serve as the series’ creator and is also producing the series through his Perfectman Pictures banner. Ciralsky and Gene Klein will executive produce the show for P3 Media. “It’s an honor to create a show based on Adam’s riveting article, fictionalizing the high-stakes, exhaustive and emotional efforts to bring America’s hostages home,” said Hawley.

Hawley and Ciralsky Have Worked Together Before

The Envoy is not the first time that Hawley and Ciralsky will combine their efforts on a show. The pair work together on The Recruit, with Ciralsky producing the show for P3 that Hawley created. The Recruit, which stars Noah Centineo as a bookworm-type CIA lawyer who becomes embroiled in widespread international turmoil, has been one of Netflix’s most successful projects of late and spent five weeks on the streamer’s Global Top 10 chart upon its release in 2022. A second season of the show is in development and began filming in January 2024.

Beyond The Recruit, Hawley has also seen massive success with The Rookie, a police procedural that stars Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, a divorced man in his 40s who joins the LAPD looking for a new lease on life, thereby becoming the department’s oldest rookie cop. With an ensemble cast behind it, The Rookie has become one of ABC‘s most successful shows – and one of the most popular police procedurals on television. The series has maintained its popularity since its release in 2018, and was renewed for a seventh season this year for a 2025 release.

No release window for The Envoy has been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for more information. Season 1 of The Recruit is streaming now on Netflix.

via Collider