WGN America Nabs Murder Mystery Series ‘Bellevue’ Starring Anna Paquin

WGN America has acquired the U.S. rights to new drama series “Bellevue,” starring Anna Paquin, Variety has learned.

Set to premiere on WGN America in early 2018, “Bellevue” hails from Muse Entertainment and Back Alley Films. Paquin stars alongside Allen Leech and Shawn Doyle, and will also serve as an executive producer on the series.

Bellevue is a small town with big secrets where 20 years ago, the murder of a young woman traumatized the community. Now the killer is back — or is he? In the series, when a high school hockey star wrestling with his gender identity goes missing and all signs point to foul play, Detective Annie Ryder (Paquin) must unravel all the pieces to this gripping mystery before her own life falls apart. As the case pulls her further away from her family, she is also confronted by a mysterious person from her past with disturbing answers and a terrifying need to get inside her head. Along the way, Annie must navigate a complicated relationship with her on again, off again ex, Eddie (Leech) and her boss on the force, Police Chief Peter Welland (Doyle).

“Bellevue” was created by Jane Maggs and Adrienne Mitchell, who will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers, alongside Paquin. Mitchell is the lead director on the series, and April Mullen and Kim Nguyen will also direct other episodes. The season will span eight episodes, premiering in the U.S. after the Canadian debut on CBC.

Academy Award winner Paquin is best known for starring in HBO’s “True Blood” and the “X-Men” franchise. Up next, she will star in Netflix’s upcoming Margaret Atwood adaptation “Alias Grace.” She is repped by WME.

For WGN America, acquiring “Bellevue” comes at a time when the network is shifting away from producing original content, so the Muse and Back Alley produced project fits into the cabler’s new strategy. WGN American recently cancelled “Outsiders” and the critically-acclaimed “Underground,” stating the latter series “no longer fits with our new direction.”

Watch the trailer for “Bellevue” here:

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