It’s almost two years that we’ve been talking about the forthcoming “Sexy Beast” TV series. And over that time, all signs have pointed to the series actually getting made, with Paramount Network ordering an entire first season. In fact, it was reported that Karyn Kusama, of “The Invitation” fame, was set to direct episodes of the series. Alas, it appears that this was all truly too good to be true, as the “Sexy Beast” series is now without a deal and a platform.
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According to Variety, Paramount Network has pulled out of its deal to produce and distribute a “Sexy Beast” TV series, despite its straight-to-series order for a first season. The report claims that the decision is in regards to money and budget, as the show might have become a victim of the Viacom-CBS merger. Apparently, the producers of the show are now trying to find a new home for it.
The “Sexy Beast” TV series was said to be a prequel series focused on the character of Gal Dove, played by Ray Winstone in the original film. The series would find Gal teaming up with Don Logan (originally played by Ben Kingsley) in their early days, well before the events of the 2000 film. And since it’s a prequel, the series would have taken place in the ‘90s.
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But now, it appears that’s all potentially never going to see the light of day. With Paramount Network pulling out, the entire project is in jeopardy. Thankfully, there are plenty of other platforms available for the producers to inquire about, but we’re not talking about “Lord of the Rings” or some other major franchise spinning off into TV. This is a fairly niche 2000 film with great critical acclaim but maybe not the culture cache required for a company like Netflix or Amazon to take a risk.
That being said, if Paramount Network was willing to do it, it stands to reason that the quality and potential is there. And we all know that Netflix loves to throw money at random series that seem to be of lesser quality. So, why not give “Sexy Beast” a shot?