Sky today reveals an exclusive first look at brand new Sky Original thriller The Fear Index, starring internationally renowned actor  Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful). Produced by Left Bank Pictures in association with Sky Studios, The Fear Index  will  air on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW  in February 2022.  

Josh Hartnett will star as Dr Alex Hoffman, a technology genius  who experiences a waking nightmare of the worst 24 hours of his life; alongside Arsher Ali (The Ritual,  Informer) as Hugo, his hedge fund business partner and best friend; Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie, Innocent) as Gabby Hoffman; and Grégory  Montel  (Call My Agent) as Detective Leclerc.

 The  fast-paced  four-part limited series is adapted by Paul Andrew Williams (Broadchurch) and Caroline  Bartleet (Ticking) from Robert Harris’s novel, and is directed by David Caffrey (The Alienist, Peaky Blinders).

Dr Alex Hoffman is launching  VIXAL-4 to investors - an AI-driven system  that  exploits fear in the financial markets and operates at lightning speed to make big returns. The promise is billions, the rich are ready to get richer... but this is not the day Alex and  Hugo had planned.  What follows is  a terrifying journey through the worst 24 hours  of  Alex’s life - cutting  across reality, memory and paranoid fantasy,   forcing  him  to  question everything he  sees  with his own  eyes. 

In the pulse of Geneva’s financial district, Alex’s sanity is shaken after he is viciously attacked at his home by a man  who  knows  all  of  his security codes.

After more unexplained  occurrences,  Alex  becomes  convinced he’s being framed.  But as secrets  surface  from his past, will anyone believe that he isn’t just losing his mind?

Detective Leclerc  (Montel), assigned to Alex’s case, struggles to work this former CERN scientist out. Hoffman’s talented artist wife,  Gabby  (Farzad) might just be losing patience this time, whilst Hugo’s only concern is the billion-dollar business on the line. Invention can be lonely, and in a modern world of AI, capitalism and technological breakthroughs, Dr  Alex  Hoffman is about to learn the hard way how destructive his creation might be…

The series was commissioned by Zai  Bennett, Managing Director of Content, Sky UK and Ireland, Gabriel Silver, Director of Commissioning, Drama, Sky Studios and Paul Gilbert, Commissioning Editor,  Sky Studios.  The  Fear Index is produced by Left Bank Pictures in association with Sky Studios. The Executive Producers are Andy Harries and  Sharon Hughff for Left Bank Pictures, and Paul Gilbert for Sky Studios. The Fear Index is produced by Nuala O'Leary  and directed by David  Caffrey (Love/Hate, Peaky Blinders). 

The Fear Index will  air in 2022  on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK and Ireland, and will be available in all Sky markets. International sales for  The  Fear Index will be handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.