More than a year ago, it was reported that Jon Bernthal was signed to star in a new TV series inspired by the film, “American Gigolo.” At the time, not much was known about the series, specifically how involved the film’s writer-director, Paul Schrader, would be. Well, according to the filmmaker’s recent interview with GQ, he’s definitely not involved, and he honestly doesn’t know how a TV series based on the film would work in 2021.
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Speaking about the “American Gigolo” TV series, which was given a season order by Showtime earlier this year, Schrader explained how he was contacted by producer Jerry Bruckheimer about wanting to do the show. However, the conversation wasn’t about Schrader being involved. In fact, it was the opposite.
“They contacted me probably 10 years ago and I told them I thought it was a terrible idea,” explained Schrader. “And then Jerry Bruckheimer got in touch with me and he said, ‘Well, we have the rights and we’re going to do it either way and we’ll offer you 50,000 if you agree not to be involved. We’re going to make it against your objections. And we’re not going to ask you about it. If you agree to that, then we’ll give you 50,000 bucks.’”
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He added, “I don’t know how it should work because ‘Gigolo’ was pre-internet. I don’t know how you do that subject matter post-internet. And I’m not entirely sure I want to find out.”
For those that haven’t seen the film, “American Gigolo” follows Julian Kay, an escort that becomes involved with a politician’s wife while also finding himself in the middle of a murder investigation. The film was a pretty decent hit when it was released in 1980 and features a starring performance from a young Richard Gere.
The TV series doesn’t have a release date yet, but the series is produced, written, and created by David Hollander, who had a pretty big hit on Showtime with the acclaimed drama series, “Ray Donovan.” Obviously, if you’re hoping to see Paul Schrader show up as a guest director or writer, don’t hold your breath.