After a long development process that saw original star Robert Downey, Jr. step away, the reimagined “Perry Mason” TV series is officially ready to go and has the green light from HBO to begin production. The go-ahead came just after it was announced that director Tim Van Patten has come aboard to helm the limited series that will now star Matthew Rhys in the title role.
According to Deadline, Van Patten will helm all the episodes of “Perry Mason” for HBO, based on scripts from writers Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, who also serve as showrunners. The series serves as a bit of a prequel, set in 1932, that follows the young Mason, played by Rhys, as he navigates a post-Great Depression Los Angeles that is booming. Mason will investigate a crime involving a kidnapped child.
Van Patten is probably best known as one of the more prolific TV directors to ever grace an HBO screen. His work includes stints on “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Pacific,” “Game of Thrones,” “Rome,” “Deadwood,” and about two dozen episodes of “The Sopranos.” Basically, if you’re a prestige HBO series and Van Patten hasn’t helmed an episode, do you even HBO?
Rhys is, as mentioned, going to portray the famous character, who became popular thanks to a long-running TV series about a half-century ago that spawned spin-offs, remakes, reboots, and TV films. Rhys is best known for his recent, Emmy-winning role on FX’s “The Americans,” which just wrapped up.
RDJ, while not starring in the series any longer, is still aboard as a producer with this Team Downey banner.
There’s no release date planned for “Perry Mason,” but there’s now officially no barriers between the new limited series and our TV screens. Off to production!
Here’s the synopsis:
1932, Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression, this city is booming! Oil! Olympic Games! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong! Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, this limited series follows the origins of American Fiction’s most legendary criminal defense lawyer, Perry Mason. When the case of the decade breaks down his door, Mason’s relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself.
