EXCLUSIVE: Former Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey is returning to broadcast TV as the lead of Memory of a Killer, Fox’s straight-to-series thriller about a hitman who develops early onset Alzheimer’s. The network is expected to unveil his casting at its upfront presentation Monday.
From writers Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone, Warner Bros. TV and Fox Entertainment, the series is inspired by the 2003 Belgian film De Zaak Alzheimer (La Memoire Du Tueur), which was remade as the 2022 American action thriller film Memory directed by Martin Campbell.
Dempsey is set for the lead role played by Jan Decleir in the original movie and Liam Neeson in the American feature adaptation.
In Memory of a Killer, Angelo Ledda (Dempsey) lives two totally separate lives — fearsome NYC hitman and sleepy upstate Cooperstown photocopier salesman and father. Both of them are threatened when he is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a disease he already lost his older brother to.
To further complicate things, he discovers that his wife’s recent death may not have been an accident. When someone comes after his daughter — who is pregnant — it’s clear the wall between his lives has been breached. Angelo must stop whoever’s coming for his family by searching his past hits for clues, and the list is very long. Memory of a Killer is a redemptive story about a man who is losing his memory but gaining a conscience.
In making the announcement about Memory of a Killer pickup, Michael Thorn, President of Fox Television Network, spoke of the lead character Dempsey will be playing.
“In the spirit of 24 and House, we’re introducing a daring new signature Fox lead, a complicated antihero facing unimaginable danger,” he said.
Dempsey’s casting is expected to be announced on the Fox upfront stage by another former star of a hit broadcast drama making his return to network TV as the lead of a new Fox series, The Good Wife alum Josh Charles who headlines Fox’s Best Medicine, an adaptation of the UK hit Doc Martin.
Memory of a Killer, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment, is from Whitmore and Malone, who executive produce alongside Cathy Schulman of Welle Entertainment. Arthur Sarkissian and Campbell are also executive producers, along with Peter Bouckaert of Eyeworks. Schulman and Sarkissian were producers on the 2022 film Memory.
Known for his role as Derek Shepherd on Grey’s Anatomy, Dempsey is coming off a one-year starring stint on Showtime’s Dexter: Original Sin. This marks his first broadcast series since Grey’s. He is repped by UTA, Burstein Company and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
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