What’s been going on with HBO’s hit show crime anthology show “True Detective” that hasn’t been on the air since early 2019? The timeline is something like this: in January 2019, creator Nic Pizzolatto said he had a “wild” idea for season four, something extremely ambitious, and he had “hoped” HBO would let him do it. Maybe the cable channel wasn’t super keen on the concept? Because by the next year, January 2020, Pizzolatto had signed a new first-look deal with FX Productions to create the show “Redeemer” starring “True Detective” alumni Matthew McConaughey (ironically, that deal’s since fallen apart, and that show is since abandoned). The thinking around that time, was HBO potentially moving forward with the new writer and a whole new direction.
And that looks to be the idea. In an interview with Deadline, Casey Bloys, the chief content officer at HBO and HBO Max, told the outlet he was hoping to continue with the story and confirmed they would do it with new blood.
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“It’s safe to say we’re working with a couple of writers to find the right tone and take,” Bloys said. “It’s definitely an area that could be very interesting, and I think it would be interesting with a new voice. Quality is what’s going to guide us, so if we end up with scripts that we don’t feel are representative or are not at a high enough quality, we’re not going to do something just to do it.”
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“True Detective” was created and written by Nic Pizzolatto, and ran for three seasons between 2014 and 2019. He even started directed episodes in season two, but he’s named all of once in the article, and Bloys doesn’t mention him at all, so that speaks volumes of his involvement, it seems (Deadline suggests the same).
Bloys wouldn’t comment on speculation that Lucia Puenzo, who co-created buzzy Argentinean drama “Cromo,” and “Euphoria,” creator Sam Levinson were among those currently developing takes, but this is the first they’ve been named in connection with the show, so keep those eyes peeled.
FX’s “Redeemer” show wasn’t picked up, and Pizzolatto, who recently moved from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas—to be closer to its star McConaughey? Whoops?—has been currently negotiating to get out of his FX deal. [Deadline]