‘Game of Thrones’ Alum Lena Headey to Star in New AMC Sci-Fi Thriller Series

Game of Thrones star Lena Headey is taking her talents to space in a new sci-fi thriller announced on Wednesday. Headey will executive produce and star in Beacon 23, an adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novel by the same name. The show will premiere as a Spectrum original and then air on AMC.

Headey will play the starring role of Aster in Beacon 23, which tells the story of two space travelers brought together near the edge of known space. Her character Aster approaches a lighthouse out in the void, which is kept by a man named Halan, who has yet to be cast. The two will find reasons to distrust each other as they are trapped in the far reaches of outer space with no clear idea of what their respective agendas are.

For the woman who played Cersei Lannister, the role sounds perfect. Beacon 23 was originally published as a set of five serialized short stories in the summer of 2015, then later collected into one complete volume. This adaptation was created by Zak Penn — known for his work on other adaptations including Ready Player One and The Avengers.

“Lena Headey was a wonderful, versatile actress before she gave one of the defining performances in television history,” Penn said in light of the casting announcement. “So, as they say, ‘no pressure.’ I’m thankful to all the people making this show possible, they just keep delivering beyond my expectations.”

Penn will serve as showrunner on Beacon 23, which is a co-production by Spectrum and AMC. Heady is executive producing for her own production company, Peephole Productions, as part of its first-look deal with Boat Rocker Studios. The show will be exclusive to Spectrum for nine months before airing on AMC.

“We had exactly one person in mind when thinking about who could play Aster – who could bring the strength, the vulnerability and the brilliance to Zak’s complex character? No one but Lena Headey,” said Spectrum executive Katherine Pope. “We couldn’t be more excited to go on this thrill ride with Lena and Zak leading the way.”

Headey was lauded for bringing depth and nuance to powerful characters before Game of Thrones, and has continued to do so after. She is slated to appear in several hotly-anticipated projects this year, including indie action flick Gunpowder Milkshake and Netflix’s He-Man revival Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Beacon 23 is heading into production, but no release date has been set yet.