CNN Film “The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door” to Premiere Sunday, July 12 at 8pm ET/PT and Stream Next-Day in the CNN App
NEW YORK, NY – (June 10, 2026) – CNN Films will debut The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door from BAFTA-winning filmmaker Dan Vernon on Sunday, July 12 at 8pm ET/PT on CNN, and streaming the next day on the CNN app. The gripping account of the 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack that transformed a quiet English city into the epicenter of a geopolitical crisis is a PASSION PICTURES Production for CNN Films in association with Propagate Content and West Buttermilk.
The Salisbury Poisonings traces the extraordinary chain of events set in motion when former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury, England. Through firsthand testimony from senior intelligence officials, counterterrorism leaders, journalists and victims whose lives were forever changed, the film uncovers how authorities raced to identify the perpetrators, contain a deadly chemical weapon and respond to one of the most brazen acts of state-sponsored aggression on British soil.
The film features revealing interviews with former Prime Minister Theresa May, former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, former MI6 chiefs Richard Dearlove and John Sawers, former National Security Adviser Mark Sedwill, former Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Neil Basu, and an exclusive interview with Charlie Rowley, the partner of victim Dawn Sturgess. It also features exclusive scenes with investigative journalist Christo Grozev, whose groundbreaking work was previously featured in the Academy Award®-winning CNN Film Navalny.
Director Dan Vernon said: “While the film tells the dramatic story of the assassination attempt and the investigation, it is ultimately about people, from the two men whose intertwined fates reveal a Russia wrestling with its past and future, to the residents of Salisbury, a cathedral city unexpectedly thrust onto the global stage. What fascinated me most was how an event that unfolded in a small corner of the UK became an international crisis, exposing fault lines that continue to impact our world”
“At its heart, this is a story about how a small community found itself at the center of an international crisis, capturing both the human impact felt on the streets of Salisbury and the global consequences that followed,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development for CNN Worldwide. “The film is enriched by the work of investigative journalist Christo Grozev, whose relentless reporting helped expose those responsible for the attack and whose remarkable work was previously featured in our Academy Award®-winning film Navalny. At CNN Films, we are drawn to stories that illuminate the connection between world events and the lives they shape – and The Salisbury Poisonings brings each into sharp focus.”
Executive Producer for PASSION, Hamish Fergusson said “At PASSION, we’ve long been fascinated by the extraordinary story of Salisbury and the events that unfolded there. Through unprecedented access and direct testimony from those at the heart of the response, the film sheds new light on a pivotal moment that foreshadowed the geopolitical tensions shaping our world today.”
“What makes this story so extraordinary is the collision of worlds — a Kremlin assassination plot playing out on the streets of an ordinary English town, with consequences that reached from a suburban doorstep to the highest levels of government,” said Howard T. Owen, Co-CEO of Propagate Content. “At Propagate, we’re drawn to true stories that are stranger than any fiction and that the world is still reckoning with. Working alongside Passion Pictures, M4, and our partners at CNN Films, we set out to give this one the scope and the rigor it deserves.”
The Salisbury Poisonings is a PASSION PICTURES Production for CNN Films in association with Propagate Content and West Buttermilk. Directed by Dan Vernon, the film was developed by and is produced by Alex Brisland. Executive producers are Kari Lia, Hamish Fergusson, David Moulton and Andrew Ruhemann for Passion Pictures; Amy Entelis and Roxanna Sherwood for CNN Films; Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens for Propagate Content; and James Packer for West Buttermilk.
The Salisbury Poisonings made its world premiere at the CPH:DOX Documentary Film Festival in Copenhagen and will have its North American premiere at the DC/DOX Film Festival and its UK premiere at Sheffield DocFest.
The film will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, July 12. It will also be available beginning Monday, July 13 to CNN’s streaming subscribers and pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.
The Salisbury Poisonings is the fourth collaboration between PASSION PICTURES and CNN Films, having previously collaborated on the BAFTA and PGA Award-winning Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024), Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story (2021), and Emmy® nominated Legion of Brothers (2017). CNN Films and Propagate recently partnered on the critically acclaimed I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, which premiered earlier this year and is available to stream now on CNN and HBO Max.
###
About CNN ORIGINALS
The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN FlashDocs, and CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN’s global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 50 multi-part documentary series and 70 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 120 awards and 450 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain and Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not directed by Emmy® winner Marina Zenovich; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; the Oscar®, BAFTA, PGA, and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, Navalny directed by Daniel Roher; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, to stream via a CNN All Access subscription, on the CNN Original Hub on HBO Max and discovery+, on the CNN Originals FAST channel, and with a pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.
About PASSION PICTURES
PASSION PICTURES is a double Academy Award®-winning independent production studio with a global reputation for groundbreaking, thought-provoking and impactful documentaries. The studio recently won the BAFTA for Best Documentary with “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and held worldwide number one spots with their series “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke”. PASSION has the ambition to cover new ground, discover stories that need to be told and tell them with the people at the heart of those stories. PASSION has produced over 90 documentaries including the iconic “One Day in September,” “Searching for Sugarman”, telling diverse stories including “Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy,” “Wham!” and “AP Dhillon: First of a Kind.” Passion’s Oscar® and BAFTA-winning work with partners including Netflix, National Geographic, Channel 4 and the BBC has been selected at Sundance, Telluride, Tribeca and festivals worldwide.
About PROPAGATE CONTENT
Propagate Content, founded in 2015 by Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, is a multi-genre, award-winning content powerhouse with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Paris. Known for its dynamic range of hit shows, Propagate Content boasts successes such as the iconic Chopped franchise for the Food Network, FBC’s new hit Best Medicine, the Emmy-winning documentary In Her Hands for Netflix, the Emmy-nominated sports documentary series Untold for Netflix, the Annie-nominated Lulu for Apple+, the Nanette Burstein-directed official SBF documentary, and are currently in production on Season 2 of the breakout hit Stick starring Owen Wilson for Apple+. The company’s acclaimed documentaries division is a market leader with successes including I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not for CNN, the Emmy-nominated Hillary for Hulu, LFG for HBO Max, and Anna Nicole Smith for Netflix. Propagate Content’s Fuego division produced the Latin music show La Firma for Netflix and the first Spanish-language comedy for Peacock, 90 Minutos. Our corporate portfolio includes industry leaders such as Electus (You vs. Wild, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Jane the Virgin, Fashion Star), Big Breakfast (Adam Ruins Everything, Hot Date), Notional (Chopped franchise), and leading talent and digital management firms Artists First, Authentic, Select Management Group, and Parker Management cementing our status as a trailblazer in innovative and compelling content and talent representation across all platforms.
Press Contacts:
Jordan.Overstreet@CNN.com
Sophie.Tran@CNN.com