After more than a decade in development, James Mangold‘s underrated 1997 dirty-cop thriller “Cop Land” is finally getting the series treatment with help from “The Old Man” co-creator Robert Levine, and there is a big update: the project has landed at Paramount+.
As Deadline mentions in their report, “Cop Land” is a Paramount Television Studios and Miramax Television co-production with the show heading to the streaming service as it finds a place among their other high-profile TV series such as “MobLand” (Season 3 in the works for a shoot later this year, despite a dust up with Tom Hardy), the Billy Bob Thorton-led oil world thriller “Land Man,” and Sly Stallone‘s rural gangster show “Tulsa King.”
Stallone, playing a character against type and gaining a decent amount of weight, led the original film as a meek New Jersey sheriff who oversaw a small law enforcement team in a sleepy town inhabited by corrupt NYPD cops, with an amazing supporting cast that featured Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Annabella Sciorra, Cathy Moriarty, Michael Rapaport, Robert Patrick, Janeane Garofalo, Peter Berg, Debbie Harry, Edie Falco, Noah Emmerich, Method Man, and more. While they’ve spent decades without any meddling from local cops, Stallone’s sheriff grows a spine and kicks-ass when their criminal conspiracy starts getting people killed.
Another exciting angle here is that Levine is being set as the showrunner of “Cop Land,” as he’ll co-write with Mangold (who is set to direct). There is an expectation, like with other Paramount+ projects, that they’ll be looking to cast a well-known actor to anchor the series (hopefully, populating main roles with an award-winning cast). Although no names are being mentioned for it at this time.
This continued partnership with Paramount is happening alongside Mangold’s next feature film, “High Side,” which sees the filmmaker reuniting with his “A Complete Unknown” star Timothée Chalamet (who landed a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance) for the bank robber pic.
We’re not entirely surprised Mangold is returning to the cop genre; in the past, he was trying to get a feature adaptation of Don Winslow‘s “The Force” going at 20th Century with his “Ford v. Ferrari” lead Matt Damon (“The Departed,” “The Odyssey”) attached for the lead role. He had also been putting together the “Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi” prequel film at Lucasfilm/Disney set thousands of years in the past (said to be focusing on the origins of the Jedi and Sith).
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