Introduction

Treadstone is an American action drama television series, connected to and based on the Bourne film series.

A “special preview” of the pilot aired on USA Network on 24 September 2019, ahead of its 15 October 2019 premiere.

The series was created by Tim Kring, who is also the executive producer alongside Ramin Bahrani, Ben Smith, Jeffrey Weiner, Justin Levy, Bradley Thomas, and Dan Friedkin.

In May 2020, the series was cancelled after one season.

Outline

Treadstone explores the origin story and present-day actions of a fictional CIA black-ops programme known as Operation Treadstone – a covert programme that uses a behaviour-modification protocol to turn recruits into nearly-superhuman assassins.

The series follows sleeper agents across the globe as they are mysteriously ‘awakened’ to resume their deadly missions.

The programme breaks down these assassins’ personalities, erases their memories, and eliminates their moral code so they can effectively kill targets around the world.

The series explores Treadstone’s legacy and begins in an East Berlin incident that transpires in 1973. This involves John Randolph Bentley (Jeremy Irvine), one of the programme’s agents, who escapes his Soviet captors. The story then zooms to the present day, following a group of assets being “activated” by force or awakened after a moment of high tension.

Cast

• Main:
  • Jeremy Irvine as John Randolph Bentley.
  • Tracy Ifeachor as Tara Coleman.
  • Omar Metwally as Matt Edwards.
  • Han Hyo-joo as SoYun Pak.
  • Brian J. Smith as Doug McKenna.
  • Gabrielle Scharnitzky as Petra Andropov.
  • Emilia Schüle as Young Petra.
  • Michelle Forbes as Ellen Becker.
• Recurring:
  • Michael Gaston as Dan Levine.
  • Jung Woo Seo as Dae Pak.
  • Tess Haubrich as Samantha McKenna.
  • Patrick Fugit as Stephen Haynes (credited as “Special guest star”).
  • Lee Jong-hyuk as Colonel Shin.
  • Oliver Walker as Matheson.
  • Shruti Haasan as Nira Patel.

Trivia

• On 12 April 2018, it was announced that USA Network had given the production a pilot order.
• On 16 August 2018, it was reported that USA Network had decided to forego the pilot process and instead were issuing the production a straight-to-series order.
• On 08 November 2018, it was announced that Jeremy Irvine and Brian J. Smith had been cast in lead roles.
• On 14 January 2019, it was reported Omar Metwally, Tracy Ifeachor, Han Hyo-joo, Gabrielle Scharnitzky, and Emilia Schüle had joined the main cast.
• Michelle Forbes, Michael Gaston and Shruti Haasan were added to the cast, with Patrick Fugit and Tess Haubrich also appearing in a recurring capacity.
• Principal photography for the first series had begun by January 2019 in Budapest.

Treadstone Series

• Episode 01: The Cicada Protocol.
• Episode 02: The Kwon Conspiracy.
• Episode 03: The Berlin Proposal.
• Episode 04: The Kentucky Contract.
• Episode 05: The Bentley Lament.
• Episode 06: The Hades Awakening.
• Episode 07: The Paradox Andropov.
• Episode 08: The McKenna Erasure.
• Episode 09: The Seoul Asylum.
• Episode 10: The Cicada Covenant.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Tim Kring, Ramin Bahrani, Alex Graves, Brad Anderson, Wayne Yip, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and Jeremy Webb.
• Producer(s): Tim Kring. Ramin Bahrani, Ben Smith, Jeffrey Weiner, Justin Levy, Bradley Thomas, and Dan Friedkin.
• Writer(s): Tim Kring, Rebecca Dameron, Dave Kalstein, Tim Walsh, Patrick Alson, Michael Brandon Guercio, Marc Bernardin, Tyler Hisel, Nneka Gerstle. and Jill Snyder.
• Music: Jeff Russo and Jordan Gagne.
• Production: Universal Content Productions, Tailwind Productions, Captivate Entertainment, and Imperative Entertainment.
• Distributor(s): USA Network.
• Release Date: 24 September 2019 to Present.
• Running Time:
• Country: US.
• Language: English.