Scarlett Johansson in Prime Video's Just Cause thriller series

Scarlett Johansson will portray the lead character in Just Cause, a thriller series that is based on the 1992 novel by John Katzenbach.

In a highly competitive situation, the project - from writer Christy Hall (I Am Not Okay With This), These Pictures and Warner Bros. TV, ended up at Amazon Studios with a straight-to-series order for Prime Video.

In the TV adaptation, the book’s male protagonist, Miami newspaper editorial writer Matt Cowart, is undergoing a gender swap, with Johansson playing the series’ female lead Madison “Madi” Cowart, a struggling reporter for a Florida newspaper sent to cover the final days of an inmate on death row.



Johannson (photo), a two-time Oscar nominee and a Tony winner, has a personal connection to the title. At age 10, she appeared in Warner Bros.’ 1995 feature adaptation of Katzenbach’s book in only her second film role. She played the daughter of the main character, who was revamped as Harvard law professor Paul Armstrong and was played by Sean Connery.

Hall executive produces the Just Cause limited series alongside Johansson, Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn of These Pictures. Zara Duffy, Head of Television for These Pictures, is overseeing for the company. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.

On the small screen, Johansson is known for her six appearances on Saturday Night Live and additional performances as Ivanka Trump. Johansson's only other television credit is a recurring voice role in Robot Chicken. She was part of the returning voice cast between 2006 and 2008.

Hall, a LA-based playwright and screenwriter, co-developed and executive produced the Netflix/21 Laps 2020 series I’m Not OK With This, an adaptation of Charles Foreman’s graphic novel.