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.