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Heist stories tend to have a predictable structure. You watch a crew assemble, learn the plan, see everything inevitably go wrong, and then spend the final act wondering whether anyone will make it out with the money. Apple TV’s crime thriller 12 12 12, premiering this Friday, November 13, has a different idea: What if the heist itself was only one part of the story?
Featuring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan in lead roles, 12 12 12 is an eight-part series that revolves around a €1 billion bank robbery told across three distinct timelines. The series revolves around the 12 months of planning for the heist, the 12 hours during which the robbery takes place, and the 12 days after the heist. The show’s structure gives the series plenty of room to explore the preparation and fallout that usually get compressed into a few scenes, while still delivering the elaborate robbery at the center of the story.
What Is Apple TV’s ’12 12 12′ About?
The series follows a disgraced FBI agent, played by Mackie, and an American career criminal, played by Dornan, as they become locked in a cat-and-mouse chase across Europe. Their pursuit eventually converges on a bank vault buried deep beneath the streets of Zurich. There’s a familiar good-versus-bad setup here, but 12 12 12 appears more curious about the machinery surrounding a heist than simply asking whether the criminals can pull it off. The year leading up to the robbery allows the series to dig into how an operation of this scale comes together. At the same time, the hours during the heist can deliver the inevitable pressure-cooker thrills.
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Then comes the part most heist stories rush through: what happens after the job. In that sense, 12 12 12 feels like MobLand and Ocean’s Eleven, combining the elaborate planning of a high-stakes robbery with the messy family dynamics of a crime drama. At the center of that tension are Paul and his older brother Bobby (Jack Kesy), whose complicated relationship brings another layer of conflict to the heist. Each installment moves between the three timelines, connecting the planning, execution, and aftermath of the same crime. It’s an unusually expansive way to tell a heist story, particularly for a genre that often treats the setup as a means of getting to the big job.
Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan Lead ’12 12 12’s Cast
Mackie and Dornan headline the series, with both actors also serving as executive producers. Mackie plays disgraced FBI agent Jack Strickland, who is chasing Dornan’s career criminal Paul Galvin across Europe, putting the two at opposite ends of the law while giving the show a central rivalry to build around.
The supporting cast includes Kesy, Agathe Rousselle, Sallie Harmsen, José Garcia, Kali Reis, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Patrick Fabian, among others. Reis, in particular, arrives with recent genre and prestige-TV experience following roles in True Detective and Mercy. Mackie and Dornan aren’t exactly strangers, either; the pair previously appeared together in the 2019 science-fiction film Synchronic, making 12 12 12 a reunion of sorts. This time, however, they’re on opposite sides of a massive criminal operation.
Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble created 12 12 12 and serve as executive producers. The pair also wrote several episodes, with additional scripts coming from Samantha Corbin-Miller, Joe Murtagh, Jamie Carragher, and Tolula Dada. Kari Skogland directed the pilot and several episodes and is an executive producer of the project. The director has experience working in a large-scale franchise, having directed several episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — and has worked with Mackie before.
When Does 12 12 12 Premiere on Apple TV?
12 12 12 premieres globally on Friday, November 13, 2026, with the first two episodes arriving together. After that, Apple TV will release one new episode every Friday, with the eight-episode series concluding on Christmas Day, December 25. The release schedule makes the thriller a weekly fixture throughout the holiday season.
Apple TV has already offered a first look at the series, giving viewers a glimpse of Mackie’s FBI agent and Dornan’s criminal as the elaborate operation takes shape. The footage also reinforces the show’s central concept: This isn’t simply a story about what happens when someone breaks into a vault. It’s about everything that has to happen before the doors open — and everything that happens after they close.
12 12 12 could be one of Apple’s more intriguing crime dramas to close out 2026. The heist may be the hook, but the real experiment is stretching the story around it. By giving the planning and aftermath nearly as much importance as the robbery itself, the series has an opportunity to turn a familiar crime-thriller setup into something considerably more ambitious.
12 12 12 premieres this Friday on Apple TV.
- Release Date
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November 12, 2026
- Network
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Apple TV
- Directors
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Ellen Kuras, Takeshi Fukunaga, Kari Skogland
- Writers
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Joe Murtagh
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https://collider.com/mobland-oceans-eleven-series-apple-tv-heist-thriller-12-12-12/
Amanda M. Castro
Almontather Rassoul
