Ben Stiller's Star-Studded Prison Break Series is Headed to TV

Ben Stiller‘s new series Escape at Dannemora has been given the green light at Showtime!

The 51-year-old Zoolander actor will direct and executive produce the eight-episode drama, which is based on the real-life maximum-security prison break in New York that occurred in the summer of 2015.

The escape led to a “massive manhunt for two convicted murderers who were aided in their escape by a married female prison employee with whom they both became sexually entangled,” according to Variety.

It will star Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette, and Paul Dano.

“We are all very intent on trying to tell this singular story in a way that shows the reality and humanity of the people involved,” Ben said. “While the genre is a prison escape story, at its core it is a story about real people, some criminals and some not, who make some bad choices that have huge consequences. I think that’s what’s so compelling about this.”

Escape at Dannemora will begin production later this year at the actual locations in Upstate New York.

ICYMI, Ben and his wife Christine Taylor recently ended their marriage after 17 years together.