Today at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival we got to sit down with the wonderfully forthcoming William Friedkin, recipient of an honorary award here. He was as full of anecdotes and tidbits as ever, and we’ll have the full interview for you soon, but one item he shared with us, is that his involvement with "True Detective" Season 2 might be a little more than the pie-in-the-sky dream casting that we did back in March.
In a discussion about his shift towards long-form television as opposed to big-screen features (both "To Live and Die in LA" and "Killer Joe" are being mooted for TV adaptations, and we’ve plenty on both in the upcoming interview), Friedkin name-checked a few shows that he felt had taken the place of films as the topic of water-cooler, or "coffee machine" conversation—"Homeland," "24," and "True Detective."
At the mention of the last we couldn’t help but let him know that we had him pegged as one of the five directors we’d like to see direct a season of the show down the line. Would he consider it, we asked, if they came knocking? He paused a moment, looking a tiny bit surprised.
"I am considering it." said Friedkin. "I like this writer [Nic Pizzolatto] very much. I’ve met him, and he’s the real deal as far as I’m concerned. Now, all the new seasons are different so I’m not committed—this new season has nothing to do with the last one. Except for him and his sensibility, which I think is extraordinary."
Pushing a little to get him to confirm that he’s in the mix, Friedkin remained positive but circumspect.
"I’m… I can’t say much more at this time. But I’m a fan of his writing, even though this will not be a continuation of what was done before with [Matthew] McConaughey [with whom obviously Friedkin has a relationship after ‘Killer Joe‘] and Woody Harrelson. So what you can say is I’m a huge fan of his writing, I’ve met with him, I like him, I like the direction he’s taking with this."
And coincidentally, (or perhaps not…) while Friedkin is in town to receive the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, another organization to be celebrated here is development, production and management company Anonymous Content. As part of the tribute there, honchos Steve Golin and Michael Sugar are also present, as the festival is screening several of their productions, including "Winter’s Bone," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and, you guessed it, a marathon back-to-back showing of "True Detective" season one.
So, make of that what you will. We did warn Friedkin that if it does come together we’ll be taking sole credit for it, at which he laughed warmly as though he thought we were joking.
Obviously very early days, nothing solid here and who knows how many other people are under similar consideration, still, it’s gratifying to surmise that someone in the "True Detective" camp also has an eye on Friedkin as a possibility. And it should also be noted, even if hired, Friedkin likely won’t be the only director, with Pizzolatto stating earlier this year that the tight production schedules to deliver the second season on time will mean they’ll need multiple filmmakers.
But that said, what would you think of Friedkin getting behind the camera for even some of the next season of "True Detective"? Let us know below.
