Celebrated actor Tom Hanks will be tackling the work of James Ellroy for HBO.
Hanks’ production company, Playtone, is coming off of tremendous success with the HBO mini’series John Adams. They will bring Ellroy’s American Tabloid and, it’s sequel The Cold Six Thousand, to the same channel.
“We are behind, and below, the scenes of JFK’s presidential election, the Bay of Pigs, the assassination–in the underworld that connects Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, D.C. . . .
Where the CIA, the Mob, J. Edgar Hoover, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, Cuban political exiles, and various loose cannons conspire in a covert anarchy . . .
Where the right drugs, the right amount of cash, the right murder, buys a moment of a man’s loyalty . . .
Where three renegade law-enforcement officers–a former L.A. cop and two FBI agents–are shaping events with the virulence of their greed and hatred, riding full-blast shotgun into history. . . . “
Kirk Ellis will adapt the novels. Ellis was the writer for John Adams and will be bringing David McCullough’s 1776 to HBO as well. McCullough was the author the John Adams bio that the mini-series was based on. Ellis has a fair amount of experience in adapting literary material for film and television.
According to the Variety peice, it has not been decided whether this will be a mini-series or a regular show.
This sounds fantastic. The Adams mini-series was very well done and I can’t help but think that this shows promise. Kudos to HBO for continuining to offer the public quality programming.
Ellroy is the author of over a dozen novels, including L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia.
