After the success of “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “The Wire,” and setting the scene for other acclaimed cable shows like “Mad Men” and “Dexter,” HBO have almost completely removed the stigma for big names working in TV. This week has already seen reports that Forest Whitaker will headline a spin-off of CBS’ “Criminal Minds,” while Julianne Moore, Maria Bello, Matt Dillon and Jason Isaacs are all being keenly pursued to topline network pilots, and Marc Webb will find a little time before rebooting “Spider-Man” to helm a pilot for Fox entitled “Midland,” a drama about a polygamist written by Kyle Killen, who’s behind the forthcoming Mel Gibson vehicle “The Beaver.”
HBO still has the pick of the litter, however, with Martin Scorsese co-creating, and directing the pilot of, the new Atlantic City gangster series “Boardwalk Empire,” which stars Steve Buscemi and Michael Shannon, and Michael Mann will direct the pilot for the new series “Luck,” set around a horse-racing track and created by David Milch (“Deadwood”). Now, another of the biggest directors in Hollywood is heading to the channel, as it’s been announced that David Fincher is teaming up with Charlize Theron to develop the book “Mind Hunter: Inside The FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit” into a series. The non-fiction work, by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, follows Douglas’ work as an FBI profiler, tracking serial killers, so it’s right in the wheelhouse of Fincher, the man behind probably the two best serial killer movies of all time, “Seven” and “Zodiac.”
The pilot will be written by “Dexter” writer Scott Buck, and Fincher and Theron will executive produce, although there’s no word if either will take more substantial roles in the project, although Theron’s never produced a project that she hasn’t appeared in. While the networks are currently overrun by procedural shows of this sort (and the premise sounds very close to “Criminal Minds”), we have no doubt that Fincher’s presence, and the creative freedom enabled by pay cable, will come up with something very different. Our heart will always belong to the movies, but some of these cable shows display some of the best dramatic storytelling in the world right now (“The Wire” is more like a 60 hour movie than a TV show), and we’re excited to see what these big-name directors can come up with.
that cover is hilariously cheesy.
I feel like Kiefer Sutherland actually was one of the first film actors to go back to TV and make it respectable with 24.
Also: HBO may have the pick of the litter, but they passed on Mad Men and their recent shows have been mostly trash, (ie: True Blood). They definitely paved the way but have lost whatever made them special.
HBO has David Simon's "Treme" and "Boardwalk Empire" coming up this fall; they also have the criminally underseen "Hung" and "Bored To Death" — they're doing just fine.
And "Mad Men" is great, but what other shows does AMC have other than "Breaking Bad"?
I would watch Julianne Moore in anything. As long as she doesn't have a Boston accent. So I hope she does do a TV show.
Also, @Cory, 'True Blood' may be trash, but it's wonderfully exciting trash.
There something to be said about John Douglas being one of the most interesting people around. His books are fascinating to read, and his commentary track over Silence of the Lambs is great.
The eminence of John Douglas' (arguably) best published work with Scott Buck and David Fincher behind it sounds like a damn cause for celebration. Props for putting out an article on it – you've once again proved your relevance.
i never thought Charliez Theron and Fincher knew each other
I think its really cool that we'll get to see work from these directors in-between features. I also think television should (fingers crossed) bring out good stuff from Fincher, Mann, and Scorsese. (Is it just me or does Boardwalk Empire look way better than The Departed?)
Thing is, most of these directors are only directing the pilot episodes, no?
@Keith I watched Bored To Death but it's definitely not a great show. I hope Boardwalk Empire is, but I think they might be banking a little too hard on it being the next Sopranos. We'll see.
I think HBO was great getting groundbreaking shows on the air, but now that doesn't make them unique and it's been a while since they had a great new show. I tend to think of them now as the network that keeps Entourage on the air for 6 seasons.
Yep, but a good pilot is pretty close to a modest feature, so thats good enough for me! Other than that, all we see from these guys between features are Nike ads. (The Abel Ferrara directed pilot for the old Mann show Crime Story was pretty great, if i remember correctly.)