Is TV Baz Luhrmann‘s new best friend? Well, he’s certainly getting comfortable with the format. The director is already being eyed to helm the Steven Spielberg produced, Stanley Kubrick inspired “Napoleon,” and now’s he got another period-based project cooking, one that will also include lots of music.
Vulture reveals that Luhrmann has paired up with producer Shawn Ryan (“The Shield,” “Terriers“) and playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (“The Motherfucker With the Hat“) for a currently untitled show about the dawn of hip hop. The show would be set in New York and follow two best buds as they make the music scene, with the series starting in 1977, two years before Sugar Hill Gang would change everything with “Rapper’s Delight.” There might also be flash forwards helping to frame the story and characters.
Right now, the project is being pitched to networks and it’s a pretty neat concept, even if Luhrmann is running behind some formidable competition. Martin Scorsese has a ’70s set music project, focused on rock ‘n roll, developing over at HBO with Bobby Cannavale in the lead, while Lee Daniels has his own hip hop drama in the works at Fox. That said, few filmmakers bring it like Luhrmann and we’d wager his take on the era will be just as dazzling as his approach to the Jazz Age.