Deadline is reporting that Paul Giamatti will star in HOKE, a pilot based on the novels of Charles Willeford.
Giamatti will play potentially insane homicide detective Hoke Mosley. The show is set in 1985 Miami. This is not the first time Hoke has been adapted. The first Hoke novel, MIAMI BLUES, was made into a film in which Fred Ward played Hoke. If this goes to series, it will be based on NEW HOPE FOR THE DEAD, SIDESWIPE and THE WAY WE DIE NOW, leaving MIAMI BLUES out of the picture.
Scott Frank has handled the writting and will direct the pilot. Frank’s track record is pretty damn impressive. He has adapted Elmore Leonard (GET SHORTY and OUT OF SIGHT) and James Lee Burke (HEAVEN’S PRISONERS) as well as having written MINORITY REPORT and DEAD AGAIN. He is currently finishing post-production on WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, the Lawrence Block based film that he both wrote and directed.
Giamatti and Frank will act as executive producers, along with Curtis Hanson (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, 8 MILES), Carol Fenelon (HBO’s TOO BIG TO FAIL, THE BIG YEAR) and Dan Carey (ALL IS BRIGHT, JOHN DIES AT THE END). Filming will begin, in Miami, in late Fall.
