Good Lord, it seems like every day we're announcing new HBO projects. They seem to be busier these days than Hollywood studios these which may be why they keep on attracting A-list talent.
The latest from the cable channel will be a detective series based on Walter Mosely's new detective series "The Long Fall." The first book in the series which hit shelves last spring introduced readers to Leonid McGill, a New York City private detective and former boxer. Mosely is best known for his LA-based Easy Rawlins detective stories (one of which, "Devil In A Blue Dress," was made into a movie), in which he brilliantly addresses the complex racial politics of 1940s and 50s era among familiar pulp surroundings. Undoubtedly, his latest series will continue in that vein. Director Jonathan Demme has come aboard to co-write and direct the pilot.
Clearly, the creative freedoms afforded on cable are beginning to look far more enticing than shepherding projects through a newly 3D obsessed studio system.
While there's no word yet on when we might see "The Long Fall," there is plenty to keep our attention for now. Here's a recap of what we can expect from HBO in the next little while: "Tilda," the Nikki Finke inspired Hollywood comedy; "Emergency Sex," the humanitarian worker drama with Maria Bello and exec produced by Bello, Russell Crowe & Simon Beaufoy; groupie memoir "I'm With The Band" starring Zooey Deschanel; FBI crime unit drama "Mind Hunter," developed by David Fincher & Charlize Theron; "Boardwalk Empire" starring Steve Buscemi, Gretchen Mol, Michael Pitt and Michael Shannon with a pilot directed by Martin Scorsese and "Luck" with a pilot directed by Michael Mann.
And that's a condensed version.
2/05/2010
Jonathan Demme To Direct & Co-Write HBO Pilot 'The Long Fall'
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4 comments:
With that line-up, I'm practically drooling...
Goddamn, how many new HBO pilots is that now?
Not that I"m complaining, mind you.
Armando Iannucci (In the Loop, The Thick of It, Alan Partridge) is also working on an HBO pilot based on "the world of the internet." Something about an upstart internet company whose very young workers are unaware of the power they possess. Very hopeful in HBO's future
To play Devil's Advocate...Throwing all these A-listers at these projects reeks a bit of HBO's desperation to recapture their glory days (let's throw in Alexander Payne directing the "Hung" pilot. That's cool and all, but honestly, who really gives a shit who directs a pilot? (I know I'll get flamed for that, but my argument would be that a strong auteurist directorial presence does not really translate all that usefully over to episodic TV.)
HBO in 2010 kind of reminds me of that year when the Lakers threw money at all those washed-up former All-Stars (Karl Malone, Gary Payton) to win one last Shaq-Kobe title, only to get demolished by the Pistons. I guess in this analogy, David Chase is Chauncey Billups and David Simon is Rasheed Wallace: they were kind of journeymen nobodies or quality players nobody outside their home team knew about, but it didn't matter: they had the goods to deliver when their time came.
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