Martin Scorsese. Todd Haynes. Kathryn Bigelow. Jonathan Demme. Russell Crowe. Simon Beaufoy. David Fincher. Charlize Theron. Maria Bello. Kate Winslet. Guy Pearce. Steve Buscemi. Zooey Deschanel. Not just the front row at a decent Academy Awards show (or at least the Golden Globes…) but also all talent attached to upcoming HBO series, the likes of “Boardwalk Empire,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Emergency Sex,” “The Miraculous Year” and “I’m With The Band.”
One of the ones we’ve been most excited about is “Luck,” a collaboration between “Deadwood” creator David Milch, and director Michael Mann. The show follows a group of characters in the horse-racing world, and is set to go before cameras by the end of the month, and is likely to be launched in January.
We’re practically salivating at the idea anyway (“Deadwood” might be this writer’s favorite of the HBO shows, yes, including “The Wire”), but the casting news that’s come in today has doubled our anticipation — the show will be toplined by Dustin Hoffman, who’ll lead the ensemble cast as an ex-con gambler. The cliche about film actors turning to TV is that they do so once their careers are washing up, but Hoffman is at the point in his career where he can pick and choose what he wants certainly this project is more enticing than “Meet The Fockers” or a voice role in “Kung Fu Panda.”
Two frequent collaborators of Mann have also been added to the cast: Dennis Farina, who appeared in “Manhunter” before toplining Mann’s last TV show, NBC’s “Crime Story” (a major influence on many of the new generation of HBO shows). He’ll play Hoffman’s driver and companion. The other is John Ortiz, who played the villain in 2006’s “Miami Vice,” and appeared in “Public Enemies.” He’ll play “a middle-aged Peruvian trainer” that according to Milch, is a character based on real-life horse-trainer Julio Canani.
Even though Milch’s last show, surfer messiah drama “John From Cincinatti” was a tad oblique, and Mann’s recent work hasn’t been up with his best, the idea of Hoffman starring in the show is incredibly exciting, and we’re pre-ordering our boxset as soon as we get the chance.