The Savant

The Savant is an upcoming American crime thriller miniseries created by Melissa James Gibson that is based on an article by Andrea Stanley. The series stars Jessica Chastain and Nnamdi Asomugha. The series is slated to premiere on September 26, 2025.

The Savant
Genre	Crime thriller
Created by	Melissa James Gibson
Based on	"Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?" by Andrea Stanley
Showrunner	Melissa James Gibson
Starring	Jessica Chastain Nnamdi Asomugha
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Jessica Chastain Melissa James Gibson Alan Poul Jessica Giles Kelly Carmichael Matthew Heineman David Levine Garrett Kemble
Producer	Brian Madden
Cinematography	Janusz Kamiński[1]
Production companies	Freckle Films Fifth Season Anonymous Content Apple Studios
Original release
Network	Apple TV+

Premise

The series is reportedly inspired by a true-life story entitled "Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?" which featured in Cosmopolitan in August 2019 of a woman who has come to be known as "the Savant" who infiltrates online hate-groups in order to prevent large-scale public attacks.^[2]

Cast

Main

• Jessica Chastain as The Savant
• Nnamdi Asomugha

Recurring

• James Badge Dale
• Cole Doman
• Michael Mosley
• Dagmara Domińczyk
• Jordana Spiro
• Trinity Lee Shirley
• Toussaint Francois Battiste
• Hannah Gross
• David Wilson Barnes

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by [3]	Original release date [4]
1	TBA	TBA	Melissa James Gibson	September 26, 2025 (2025-09-26)
2	TBA	TBA	Melissa James Gibson	September 26, 2025 (2025-09-26)
3	TBA	TBA	Frank Pugliese & Melissa James Gibson	October 3, 2025 (2025-10-03)
4	TBA	TBA	Jerome Hairston & James Anthony Tyler & Melissa James Gibson	October 10, 2025 (2025-10-10)
5	TBA	TBA	Jerome Hairston & Melissa James Gibson	October 17, 2025 (2025-10-17)
6	TBA	TBA	Amy Herzog & Melissa James Gibson	October 24, 2025 (2025-10-24)
7	TBA	TBA	Melissa James Gibson & Frank Pugliese	October 31, 2025 (2025-10-31)
8	TBA	TBA	Melissa James Gibson & Frank Pugliese	November 7, 2025 (2025-11-07)

Production

Development

The series is created by Melissa James Gibson, who also acts as showrunner and executive producer. Matthew Heineman is a director and produced by Fifth Season and Anonymous Content. Kelly Carmichael of Freckle Films also executive produces alongside Jessica Chastain. Jessica Giles, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine and Brian Madden, senior VP of development for Hearst Magazines, will produce. Andrea Stanley, writer of the original Cosmopolitan magazine feature, will consult.^[5]

Casting

It was reported in Variety in March 2023, that Jessica Chastain had been cast in an eight-part series called The Savant for Apple TV.^[6] Chastain said that her performance in the role was designed to protect the anonymity of the real-life character because "I wouldn't want to look and behave exactly like her, because I want to keep her hidden."^[7] In February 2024, Nnamdi Asomugha joined the cast in a main role,^[8] while James Badge Dale was added in a recurring capacity.^[9] Additional casting was announced in March.^[10]

Filming

Filming was scheduled for September 2023 in New York.^[11] It instead began in April 2024.^[12]

Release

The Savant is scheduled to premiere on Apple TV+ on September 26, 2025, with two new episodes and the rest debuting on a weekly basis until November 7, 2025.^[4]