‘The Looming Tower’ – Official Trailer:

3 September, 2023 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 2 categories

Genre: Drama, Created by Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, and Lawrence Wright, Based on "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright, Starring: Jeff Daniels, Tahar Rahim, Wrenn Schmidt, Bill Camp, Louis Cancelmi, Virginia Kull, Ella Rae Peck, Sullivan Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard, with Composer: Will Bates, No. of episodes: 10, Executive producers: Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, Lawrence Wright, Craig Zisk, and Adam Rapp, with Producers Ali Soufan, Peter Feldman, and Lauren Whitney, Production locations: New York City, Johannesburg, and Morocco, with Cinematography by Jim Denault, Frederick Elmes, and Ivan Strasburg, with Editors: Daniel A. Valverde, Meg Reticker, and Joe Hobeck, Running time: 46–51 minutes, Production companies: Wolf Moon Productions, South Slope Pictures, Jigsaw Productions, and Legendary Television, Original Network: Hulu (2018)

The Looming Series…

The Looming Tower is a television miniseries, based on Lawrence Wright‘s 2006 book of the same name, which premiered on Hulu on February 28, 2018. The 10-episode drama series was created and executive produced by Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, and Wright. Futterman also acted as the series’s showrunner and Gibney directed the first episode. The series stars an ensemble cast featuring Jeff Daniels, Tahar Rahim, Wrenn Schmidt, Bill Camp, Louis Cancelmi, Virginia Kull, Ella Rae Peck, Sullivan Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Peter Sarsgaard.

Lawrence Wright attends Hulu's "The Looming Tower" Series Premiere at The Paris Theatre on February 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

The 2007 General Nonfiction Pulitzer Prize Winning book, The Looming Tower: AL-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, written by Lawrence Wright (2007)

Executive producer/showrunner Dan Futterman attends Hulu's "The Looming Tower" series premiere at Paris Theatre on February 15, 2018 in New York City. Photo Credit: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images

Alex Gibney attends Hulu's "The Looming Tower" Series Premiere at The Paris Theatre on February 15, 2018 in New York City. Photo Credit: Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Pulitzer Prize winning author, Lawrence Wright Photo Credit: David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Dan Futterman attends Hulu's "The Looming Tower" Series Premiere at The Paris Theatre on February 15, 2018 in New York City. Photo Credit: Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Jeff Daniels as John O'Neill, the chief of "I-49", a section of the FBI's Counterterrorism Unit in a scene from the Hulu Original Series, The Looming Tower. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Tahar Rahim as Ali Soufan, a Muslim Lebanese-American FBI agent on John O'Neill's I-49 counterterrorism squad who eventually becomes his protégé. Soufan is infuriated by the perversion of Islam by enemies of the United States and goes so far as to go undercover in terrorists' gathering spaces in order to hunt al-Qaeda and prevent attacks. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Wrenn Schmidt as Diane Marsh, a CIA analyst who works under Martin Schmidt. Similar to Schmidt, she believes the CIA is uniquely positioned to combat terrorist attacks and therefore decides to conceal information from the FBI. The character is based on at least three people within the CIA, including Alfreda Frances Bikowsky. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Bill Camp as Robert Chesney, an FBI veteran in New York's counterterrorism unit. About to retire, he uses his interrogation skills to extract important intelligence from suspects in the struggle against terrorist threats. Chesney has been described as the most composited of all the main characters; Soufan commented that Chesney is a composite of "at least four people." Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Louis Cancelmi as Vince Stuart, an FBI agent embedded into CIA's Alec Station. His assignment is to ensure that the FBI receives all the same intelligence the CIA does. His presence at the CIA is met with severe distrust. The character is based on FBI agent Mark Rossini. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Virginia Kull as Kathy Shaughnessy, an FBI agent in the I-49 counterterrorism squad who works closely with Floyd Bennet. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Ella Rae Peck as Heather, a special education teacher, originally from Ohio, who begins to see Soufan. Their dates are constantly interrupted by his work for the FBI, and she finds the secretive and dangerous nature of his job a difficult obstacle to overcome in their relationship. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Sullivan Jones attends Hulu's "The Looming Tower" Series Premiere at The Paris Theatre on February 15, 2018 in New York City. Photo Credit: Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Michael Stahlberg as Richard Clarke, the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism and the chief counterterrorism adviser on the United States National Security Council. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden/Hulu (2018)

Peter Sarsgaard as Martin Schmidt, the chief of the CIA's Counterterrorism Division's section "Alec Station" in the Hulu Original series The Looming Tower. Photo Credit: Jojo Whelden (2018)

The Looming Tower traces the rise in the threat of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and how the informational territorial rivalry between the FBI and CIA during that time may have inadvertently set America on the path for the tragedy of 9/11. It follows members of the I-49 Squad in New York and Alec Station in Washington, D.C., the branches of counter-terrorism divisions of the FBI and CIA, as they travel the world fighting for facts and ownership of information while seemingly working toward the same goal – trying to prevent an imminent attack on U.S. soil.

The Looming Tower, created by Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, and Lawrence Wright; based on The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda And The Road To 9/11 written by Lawrence Wright; produced by Ali Soufan, Peter Feldman, and Lauren Whitney for Wolf Moon Productions, South Pole Pictures, and Jigsaw Productions and distributed by Legendary Television Distribution/Hulu (2018)

Al-Qaeda Leader Osama Bin Laden. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

A seal reading "Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation" is displayed on the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington, DC, o August 9, 2022. Photo Credit: Stefani Reynolds / AFP

The second tower of the World Trade Center bursts into flames after being hit by a hijacked airplane in New York in this September 11, 2001 file photograph. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan on May 1, 2011, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Brooklyn bridge is seen in the foreground. Photo Credit: Reuters/Sara K. Schwittek/Files

The New York City Skyline featuring the Statue of Liberty.

Dreary January weather on a busy street in Washington, DC, USA Phot Credit: Getty Images

The Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the University of Maryland, College Park, has recorded more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths, between 2000 and 2014. Photo Credit: Google Images

New York, NY, September 27, 2001 -- The remaining section of the World Trade Center is surrounded by a mountain of rubble following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Photo by Bri Rodriguez/ FEMA News Photo

The 2006 book of the same name that the miniseries is based on by Laurence Wright, a journalist with The New Yorker. Wright takes a deep dive into the origins of the militant organization Al-Qaeda, as well as the background for various tourist attacks, and how they were investigated by the FBI and CIA, and the events of those investigations that led up to the September 11 attacks. The book was at the top of the New York Times best-seller and won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.

The 2007 General Nonfiction Pulitzer Prize Winning book, The Looming Tower: AL-Queda and the Road to 9/11, written by Lawrence Wright (2007)

An agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in New York City. Photo Credit: Google Images

The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at Langley, VA. Photo Credit: Google Images

The front cover of The Washington Post on September 11, 2001. Photo Credit: The Washington Post

The Looming Tower is the Featured Television Blog of the Month for September! With the Featured Blog comes a detailed critique of the real-life characters who play FBI and CIA agents on the hunt for information on the series. There is also a detailed recommendation of the series that includes a detailed episode synopsis. There is also a detailed review of the book adapted for the series. There also is an interview with PBS Newshour discussing the series. There is also a Top Ten List at the end of the hunt, and for The Looming Tower, the list is My Top Ten Book to Television Series. Last but not least, the Featured Television Blog of the Month includes an Official Trailer for the featured series!