Remember all that talk of a ‘Wire’ prequel that people like Bunk (Wendell Pierce) and McNulty (Dominic West) have been championing? Well, that’s all well and good and “The Wire” series creator David Simon applauds their efforts, but he just doesn’t think there much need for one – and nor does he currently think he has a story to tell from any prequel angle.
“While I think that’s heroic and dedicated (of the actors), I would have to hear a story that warranted potential return. I have no interest in doing it just to do it, and I don’t have a story. Job one is the story. I’ve got nothing in the tank,” Simon said in the long and aforementioned New Jersey Star-Ledger piece (which will be referenced many times this week, by many people; it’s an impossibly long beast, but very thorough).
Simon continues to poo-poo the idea and thinks the cast is getting too old to rewind for prequel stages.
“I think a prequel is problematic in terms of the age of our cast at this point. Not that they’ve done anything but age gracefully, but we are about 6-7 years down the road from when we all started doing this project. We’ve really genuinely ended the stories where we wanted them to end. I’m not sure a sequel is practical for other reasons. I certainly admired the effort and intention of some of the cast members to figure out a way to proceed. I just got nothing on it right now.”
Straight from the horse’s mouth, the tank is kind of empty. Does this mean Pierce is on the phone with Simon’s assistant as we speak yelling, “Tell that sonofabitch we’re like five days away from securing financing and the, the mutherfucker pulls this?!?”