The Radiotopia original mystery fiction podcastPassenger Listis being remade as a television series, and has also been renewed for a second season. The eight-episode podcast starsKelly Marie Tran (Monsterland, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as Kaitlin Le, a college student whose twin brother is among the missing when a packed commuter flight vanishes en route to New York City. Six months later, the plane’s disappearance is still unsolved and its passengers and crew have been officially declared dead. Out of grief, Kaitlin takes up her own investigation.
Passenger Listtells its story through the audio equivalent of “found footage,” playing recordings of Kaitlin’s phone calls, interviews, and candid conversations. Each episode focuses on a different potential lead in Kaitlin’s investigation, ranging from one passenger who wasinvolved in human trafficking, to another who might have been exposed to Ebola, to the possibility that the pilot might have suffered from suicidal depression. As Kaitlin gets deeper into the conspiracy-theory weeds, her grip on reality, as well as possibly reality itself, begins to unravel.
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The podcast’s first season ran in September through October of 2019. It remains one of the most popular fiction podcasts on aggregators such as Podbay a year after its debut, and many critics have praised Tran’s anchoring performance as Kaitlin.
Passenger Listis being adapted for TV by Weimaraner Republic Pictures, which was launched in 2014 by former Warner Brothers executive Lynn Harris and her husband, Matti Leshem. Weimaraner previously produced thesuccessful 2016 Blake-Lively-vs.-shark movieThe Shallows, and is also currently adapting another podcast, the 2019 true-crime hitThe Clearing, for TV.
Passenger Listis a joint US-UK production, with a surprisingly deep bench for behind-the-mic talent. It was created by John Scott Dryden, who previously wrote and directed the historical fantasy radio dramaTumanbayfor BBC Radio; he co-directedPassenger Listwith Lauren Shippen, creator ofthe therapy-themed science fictionpodcastThe Bright Sessions. Editing and sound design onPassenger Listwas provided bySerial’sMark Henry Phillips. The fifth episode, “Cyberspace,” was written by Mara Wilson, who’s best known these days for beingverygood at Twitter and voicing the Faceless Old Woman Who Lives In Your Home onWelcome to Night Vale.
The second season ofPassenger Listis currently in production, with Dryden, Shippen, Phillips, and Tran confirmed to return. It is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2021, though Dryden has been careful to note that likeeverything else in this hellscape of a year, COVID-19 restrictions are in play with the production.
Tran’s next major voice role is the animated featureThe Croods: A New Agefrom Dreamworks, which is currently scheduled for theatrical release on November 25th.
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