‘Eric’ Netflix Thriller Series: What We Know So Far

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eric netflix series abi morgan

Netflix is teaming up with esteemed playwright Abi Morgan to develop Eric, a new series described as a tense and surprising thriller set in 1980s New York. Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s Eric.

The series is created and written by Emmy-winner Abi Morgan, whose credits include her award-winning The Hour and Shame, The Iron Lady, BBC/Sundance TV’s The Split, and many more.

Morgan also worked on the BBC series River which resided on Netflix in most regions as a Netflix Original until it was abruptly removed in November 2019.

abi morgan netflix eric series

Abi Morgan – Picture: Sister

The series was announced by Netflix UK alongside a slew of other UK productions back in November 2021. Other titles announced included Supacell, One Day, The Fuck It Bucket, and Kaos.

The two production companies behind Netflix’s Eric are British studio SISTER (the production company behind HBO’s award-winning Chernobyl) in association with Little Chick Productions. SISTER has previously worked with Morgan on The Split and produced the Netflix BBC co-production Giri/Haji.

Jane Featherstone and Lucy Dyke exec produce for SISTER and Morgan for Little Chick.


What’s the plot of Eric?

Netflix’s Eric is described as a tense and surprising thriller. Here’s the story synopsis for Eric:

“When Edgar, a young boy goes missing in 1980s Manhattan, his grief-stricken father Vincent, a puppeteer on America’s leading kids’ TV show, finds solace through his friendship with Eric, the monster that lives under Edgar’s bed.

In his quest to find the truth to Edgar’s disappearance, Vincent is forced into the dark shadows of a city rife with corruption to discover that the real monsters live much closer to home. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s AIDS epidemic, Detective Ledroit, tasked to uncover internal corruption in the NYPD, finds himself drawn into the search for Edgar, while privately coming to terms with secrets of his own.”

aids epidemic new york city

AIDS activists demonstrate on Wall Street in the 1980s which will be the backdrop for Eric.


Who is cast in Eric?

As of January 2023, only two cast members have been confirmed. The first is Benedict Cumberbatch. Famous for his role as London super sleuth Sherlock, Kahn in the rebooted Star Trek franchise, and most recently as Dr. Strange in the MCU, Cumberbatch has been one of the most in-demand actors of the past decade. One of his most recent projects was in Netflix’s Power of the Dog, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination for best actor in a leading role. To date, Cumberbatch has starred in 3 projects for Netflix, and will also star in the upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by director Wes Anderson.

Cumberbatch will play the role of Vincent Sullivan.

benedict cumberbatch netflix eric series what we know so far

The second actor confirmed for Eric is Donald Sage Mackay in the role of Jerry. Mackay previously starred in the Michael Myers comedy The Pentaverate.


What’s the production status of Eric?

Official Production Status: Pre-Production / Filming Scheduled (Last Updated: 09/01/2023)

We previously reported on the news that production was reportedly planned to begin in the UK in November 2022. However, we’ve since seen some conflicting reports surrounding the filming schedule.

IMDb Pro is reporting that filming began on December 5th, 2022, and is scheduled to end sometime in April 2023. We’ve also seen a separate source that has listed the project to begin filming in “Mid-January 2023” and isn’t scheduled to end until “Late May 2023.”

The series will be shot in Budapest in Hungary and New York in the USA.


How many episodes will be in Eric?

No amount of episodes have been announced, but we could expect a standard of 8 or 10.


What’s the Netflix release date for Eric?

We previously would have expected a 2023 release date, however, if filming isn’t due to end till late May 2023, we’d be lucky to see the series on Netflix before the end of the year. A more realistic release date for Eric will be early 2024.

Are you looking forward to Eric on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.

‘Eric’ Netflix Thriller Series: What We Know So Far

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Tigran is our resident previews writer. He works on collecting everything known about upcoming Netflix Original projects.