Fresh off Supergirl, Craig Gillespie enlists Julia Garner for Apple TV+ true crime thriller

If you were starting to wonder what Craig Gillespie would do after Supergirl fizzled at the box office, well, we’ve got an answer – and it’s a proper left turn. He’s heading back to television, and not just any telly job: he’s taking on Apple TV+'s limited series adaptation of Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida. That’s the real-life true crime yarn by Mikita Brottman, and yes, it’s every bit as lurid as the title suggests.

Julia Garner Leads the Pack

Julia Garner is signed up to do double duty here – she’s both starring and executive producing. Variety’s saying this is an Apple drama (they’ve got the streaming rights, naturally) and it follows a genuinely bizarre murder case that played out in Florida. Not the typical sunshine state crime caper either; this one’s got religious guilt, infidelity, and nearly twenty years of drawn-out, psychological fallout for the two main players.

Here’s the thrust, in Apple’s words:

'The show digs into the headspace of two adulterous but God-fearing lovers whose affair spins into murder, and the labyrinthine toll of living as killers in secret for 18 years.'

As true crime goes, that’s not your usual whodunit – it’s more about what you do after you’ve very much “done it”.

Gillespie’s TV Roots (And Recent Cinema Wobble)

So why Gillespie? He’s not just a film guy – despite I, Tonya, Cruella, Dumb Money, etc., crashing the silver screen, he’s got serious TV credentials too. Remember Pam & Tommy on Hulu? That was Gillespie, and it got him an Emmy nod. His credits in telly-land are sneakily lengthy:

• Pam & Tommy
• Physical
• Your Friends and Neighbors
• United States of Tara

The fact that he’s hopping back into TV after Supergirl underperformed feels like a bit of course correction. Maybe he just prefers storytelling where the audience actually shows up.

Behind the Scenes: Writing, Producing, and Who’s Steering the Ship

Sarah DeLappe (she co-wrote Bodies Bodies Bodies and the upcoming The Regime) is handling the adaptation and is executive producing. Stuart Zicherman’s on as showrunner – he’s done American Sports Story and The Shrink Next Door so he’s no stranger to prestige drama based on real-world scandals.

Production-wise, it’s a bit of a power huddle. Gillespie’s producing under his Fortunate Jack Productions shingle, Garner’s got her Alma Margo banner, and Tomorrow Studios (Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, and Alissa Bachner) are involved. Plus, Annie Marter and Brottman herself are on the exec list – so the author’s sticking close.

Julia Garner Can’t Slow Down

Garner seems to be everywhere these days. Three Emmys for Ozark, another nomination for playing Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna, and she’s dipped her toe in the superhero pool – playing Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If you've seen the trailer for Zach Cregger’s horror film Weapons, yes, that’s her too. And there's more – she’ll be popping up as Caroline Ellison in Netflix’s FTX drama, The Altruists. Though, as usual with Netflix, we’re still waiting for an actual release date.

Apple’s Still Betting Big on True Crime

Guilty Creatures started off at Tomorrow Studios in development and ended up on Apple TV+, which is adding yet another “prestige true story” title to their ever-expanding streaming roster. No word yet on when they’ll start filming – or, to be honest, when we’ll actually get to see it.