Ethan Hawke Returns to Horror in 'Midnight Radio' Podcast

By Grace Kim

Ethan Hawke will star in "Midnight Radio," a nine-episode supernatural horror podcast premiering October 22 on iHeartRadio, with new episodes dropping every Thursday at 12 a.m. PT.

The series reunites Hawke with Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, the duo behind the films "Sinister" and "The Black Phone." Hawke starred in all three films.

What's the premise?

Hawke plays a late-night AM radio host who fields a mysterious call from a man claiming to be part of a secret U.S. space mission. The narrative unfolds in real time. His character then descends into a plot involving "a sprawling web of government cover-ups, interdimensional breaches and psychological warfare," per the show's logline.

Strange signals hide in the radio static. The central question grows each episode: who, or what, is on the other end of the line, and what do they want?

Who's behind it?

Derrickson and Cargill created and co-wrote the series. They produce through their company Crooked Highway, alongside Mickey Schiff. The Hawkes' Under the Influence Productions produces too, with UTIP's Jimmy Bie leading for that company. The principals financed the project themselves, with no outside backers before production.

Vince Cheng, president of production for Crooked Highway, oversees the release. CAA and WME represent the project. iHeartPodcasts distributes.

Who's in the cast?

The ensemble includes:

• Noah Centineo
• Willa Fitzgerald
• Vincent D'Onofrio
• Levon Hawke
• Austin Pendleton
• Hubert Point-Du Jour

(Levon Hawke is Ethan and Ryan Hawke's son.)

What did Hawke say about audio-only storytelling?

"None of us had made a podcast before, so it was a blast to pour ourselves completely into a venture where we had total creative freedom," Hawke said. "There's an intimacy to the audio-only medium that can be really powerful, and in our case, used to a terrifying effect. Of course, it requires great writing… Fortunately, Scott Derrickson and Cargill are two of the best writers I've ever worked with."

What did Derrickson add?

"'Midnight Radio' is a labor of love, and an act of unfettered creativity," Derrickson said. "Ethan, Cargill and I decided to make this without any financial backing. Our aim was to make an eerie, complex and increasingly compelling narrative podcast with zero creative restrictions. 'Midnight Radio' has a purity to it — it's exactly what we wanted it to be. And now we're excited to be working with iHeart to bring it to listeners everywhere."

What does this change for the audio drama market?

The project puts a self-financed A-list horror production on podcast platforms during the Halloween window. The team's decision to forgo outside backing gave them zero creative restrictions, Derrickson said, but every dollar of risk landed on the principals. iHeartPodcasts handles the reach. The October 22 release sets up nine weekly episodes through early December, and gives the team a clean test of whether audio fiction can carry the same weight as their film work.