EXCLUSIVE: Oakes Fegley (The Fabelmans, The Goldfinch) and Dayo Okeniyi (See, Rise) are set as leads opposite Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly in Dark Matter, an adaptation of Blake Crouch’s acclaimed sci-fi novel, at Apple TV+. In addition to Edgerton and Connelly, they join previously announced series regulars Alice Braga and Jimmi Simpson in the series from Sony Television and also executive produced by Edgerton.
Written and showrun by Crouch, the nine-episode series will follow Jason Dessen, (Edgerton) a physicist, professor, and family man who — one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago — is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the multiverse of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of mind-bending realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.
Fegley will play Charlie, Jason (Edgerton) and Daniela’s (Connelly) son. Okeniyi is Leighton, an executive for a high-tech laboratory.
Dark Matter is executive produced by Matt Tolmach (Jumanji franchise, Venom) and David Manpearl for Matt Tolmach Productions. Crouch will write and serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series, and Jakob Verbruggen (Invasion, The Alienist) is set to direct the first three episodes.
Fegley will next be seen co-starring in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans for Amblin and Universal, set for release on November 11. He previously starred in The Goldfinch for Warner Brothers, in the title role of Pete’s Dragon for Disney and Wonderstruck for Amazon Studios. Fegley is repped by Verve Talent and Literary Agency, Wright Entertainment and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
Nigerian American actor Okeniyi can currently be seen in Disney+’s new movie Rise. Upcoming, he also has a supporting role opposite Ben Affleck and Alice Braga in Hypnotic directed by Robert Rodriguez. On the television side, Okeniyi recurred on the Apple TV+ series See. He was also a series regular on NBC’s crime drama Shades of Blue opposite Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta. Okeniyi is repped by UTA, Kanica Suy of Cultivate Entertainment, and attorney McKuin Frankel Whitehead.
