The Hap and Leonard series centers on two kind hearted and hard hitting best friends who live in Texas, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. Hap is a highly trained martial artist whose morality and sense of fairness often gets him in trouble with the criminal element he frequently comes into contact with. Leonard Pine, an African American homosexual ex-Navy Seal, is often along for the ride to keep Hap out of trouble. Hap and Leonard have been the stars of eight novels, two novellas, and a book of stories and excerpts, so Mickle and Damici will have plenty of material to choose from. The settings, scathing humor, themes of justice and fairness, and spot on characterizations will appeal to fans who have grown to love FX’s Justified.

"Hap and Leonard," featuring James Purefoy ("Rome," "The Following"), Michael Kenneth Williams ("The Wire," "Boardwalk Empire") and Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men"), will premiere Wednesday, March 2nd at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. Set in the late 1980s, "Hap and Leonard" is a darkly comic swamp noir story of two best friends, one femme fatale, a crew of washed-up revolutionaries, a pair of murderous psycho-killers, some lost loot and the fuzz. Based on the novels by Joe Lansdale, the six-hour series event follows Hap Collins (Purefoy), an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, and Leonard Pine (Williams), a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. When Hap's seductive ex-wife Trudy (Hendricks) resurfaces with a deal they can't refuse, a simple get-rich-quick scheme snowballs into bloody mayhem. Chock full of eccentric characters, "Hap and Leonard" provides a country twist on the classic mystery thriller. Produced by AMC Studios, the six-episode event series was developed by director/writer Jim Mickle (Cold in July, We Are What We Are and Stakeland) and writer Nick Damici (Cold in July, We Are What We Are and Stakeland). The project is executive produced by Jim Mickle, Nick Damici, Jeremy Platt and Nick Shumaker, along with co-executive producers Joe Lansdale, Linda Moran and Lowell Northrop. This project marks Mickle's and Damici's second major collaboration with Lansdale, as the pair previously collaborated on the film adaptation of Lansdale's novel Cold in July, which was selected to premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Additional "Hap and Leonard" cast members include Jimmi Simpson ("House of Cards"), Bill Sage (American Psycho), Pollyanna McIntosh, Neil Sandilands and Jeff Pope.

PRINCIPAL CAST INFORMATION:
· Bill Sage as Howard
· Christina Hendricks as Trudy
· James Purefoy as Hap Collins
· Jimmi Simpson as Soldier
· Michael Kenneth Williams as Leonard Pine

CREW INFORMATION:
· Jeremy Platt as EP
· Jim Mickle as CRTR/EP/DIR (Pilot)
· Joe Lansdale as BOOK/CO-EP
· Linda Moran as CP
· Nick Damici as CRTR/EP
· Nick Shumaker as EP