Premium cable network HBO is securing its future with two previous collaborators set to reunite for an as-yet untitled rock n’ roll drama series. Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter will be heading up the project as executive producers. alongside Mick Jagger and Breaking Bad‘s George Mastras. Scorsese will take to the director’s chair for the pilot, while Winter and Mastras will both pen the series.
Based in New York, the 1970s period drama will “explore the drug- and sex-fueled music business as punk and disco were breaking out, all through the eyes of a record executive trying to resurrect his label and find the next new sound.” The hour-long show has been in development since 2011, but has only recently gathered steam – and a huge, starry cast. Despite the fact there’s no premiere date, or any indication about when production is expected to start, the powers that be have gathered a roster of sterling thesps to tell the tale.
Emmy-winning Boardwalk Empire star Bobby Cannavale leads the story in the role of Richie Finestra, the founder and president of a top-tier record label (American Century Records) with “a great ear for discovering talent, who undergoes a crisis of character when confronted with a life-altering decision.” Tackling the role of his ex-model wife, Devon Finestra, is Olivia Wilde, who cannot cope with the changes her husband undergoes and begins to long for her former lavish lifestyle. Juno Temple, Andrew “Dice” Clay, Ato Essandoh, Max Casella, James Jagger, Jack Quaid, Birgitte Sorenson, P.J. Byrne, J.C.MacKenzie, Bo Dietel, Armen Gary, Robert Funaro and Joe Caniano round out the remainder of the supporting cast.
It’s a tantalizing prospect for the network, but it does beg the question – what about the Martin Scorsese-Benicio Del Toro Cortes project also in development at HBO? Perhaps that’s still happening, and the pilot for the rock n’roll shenanigans is already in the can? We’ll let you know when we find out.