Helena Bonham Carter and Rebecca Hall have joined HBO’s Codes of Conduct, Steve McQueen’s first project following the success of his film 12 Years a Slave.

The drama follows a young black man, played by Devon Terrell, as he rises through the ranks of New York high society, and tries to keep his mysterious past under wraps. Hall will play the daughter of a billionaire, while Bonham Carter will play a wealthy divorcee. Paul Dano also recently joined the cast, as an altruistic entrepreneur who helps give Terrell’s character a leg up into the high life.

McQueen is co-writing the series with World War Z scribe Matthew Michael Carnahan, as well as producing it and directing the pilot. Of Terrell, a newcomer found after 10 months of scouring, McQueen has said: “I needed to find an extraordinary actor ... Although you’re trying to find something you recognise, it’s more about finding something you’re surprised by. Devon had this quality.”

The series has begun shooting, so McQueen is now turning to fresh projects. He announced he would make a feature film about the singer and activist Paul Robeson, saying: “His life and legacy was the film I wanted to make the second after Hunger, but I didn’t have the power, I didn’t have the juice.”

He’s also set to adapt the Lynda La Plante ITV series Widows for the big screen, shifting the action to the US. Widows tells the story of three women, widowed after their bank robber husbands are killed during a heist, who embark on a raid themselves using their husbands’ notebooks as guidance. McQueen will write and direct, while producers include Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, who won a best picture Oscar for The King’s Speech.