“Public Enemies” helmer Michael Mann is planning to direct the pilot for a new HBO TV series from writer David Milch (“Deadwood”), reports Variety.
According to Variety: The hour-long drama, entitled “Luck”, is set within the world of horse racing. The lead role, not yet cast, is Ace Bernstein, whom Milch described as “a guy versed in all the permutations of finance, elicit and otherwise. When he is released from jail for securities violations, he resumes his place at the race track, where he is a figure of long-standing repute.”
Milch wrote the pilot script and has a past relationship with HBO, bringing “John From Cincinnati” and “Deadwood” to the network. Milch will be executive producer along with Carolyn Strauss and Mann. The plan is to shoot in April, most likely at Santa Anita Race Track. Getting to the start gate is a major achievement for Milch, who has seen horse racing from every angle, including owning close to 100 horses and winning several Breeder’s Cup races.
Said Milch: “The pilot is about a bunch of intersecting lives in the world of the horse racing track. It’s a subject which has engaged and some might say has compelled me for 50 years. I’ve joked that if I just can make $25 million on this show, I’ll be even on research expenses. I find it as complicated and engaging a special world as any I’ve ever encountered, not only in what happens in the clubhouse and the grandstand, but also on the back side of the track, where the training is done and where they house the horses.”
Mann’s last directing foray on the small screen was 1987’s “L.A. Takedown,” a precursor for Mann’s crime film classic “Heat.” He and Milch have a long friendship, which goes back to the days when Milch was running “Hill Street Blues”, and Mann was doing the same with “Miami Vice.”
HBO has been very active in brining new television shows to the network since losing both “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” in recent years. “In Treatment” and “True Blood” has brought the network a lot of success, and in 2010 they will premiere “Boardwalk Empire”, starring Steve Buscemi, and “The Pacific”, produced by Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks. “Empire” takes place during the creation of Atlantic City in the 1920’s and is produced by Terrance Winter (“The Sopranos”) and Martin Scorcese, who also filmed the pilot.
I’m a fan of anything Mann does, and the fact that he is returning to television means that he must have really taken a liking to Milch’s pilot script.
Mann will likely begin filming “Luck” in April.
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