After Samantha Yeung was shot in Central Park, New York City on July 4, 2003, the investigation into her shooting reveals the crucial connection between a series of mysterious city-wide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.
On June 30, 2021, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage were set to write and serve as showrunners for an 8-episode TV series adaptation of Garth Risk Hallberg's novel City on Fire, with Schwartz, Savage and Lis Rowinski producing the series through Fake Empire. Apple TV+ was set to distribute the series.[3] On October 29, 2021, Jesse Peretz was set to direct the first 2 episodes and to also produce the series.[4]City on Fire aired from May 12 to June 16, 2023 on Apple TV+.[1] On August 3, 2023, Apple TV+ canceled the series after one season.[2]
Casting
On October 29, 2021, Wyatt Oleff was cast.[4] On January 19, 2022, Chase Sui Wonders joined the cast.[5] Additional casting was announced in March 2022.[6]
Filming
Filming for the series began by April 2022 under the working title Brass Tactics.[7]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 39% approval rating with an average rating of 5.0/10, based on 23 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Spread thinly across run-of-the-mill characters in an unconvincing setting, City on Fire is akin to getting doused with a cold bucket of water."[11]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 45 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]