Robert Downey Jr. (photo: BAKOUNINE / Shutterstock.com).
HBO is said to be in talks with True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto and Robert Downey Jr., to reboot the Perry Mason TV series, with Downey in the title role. Variety reports the project is based on the feature film the star had previously developed at Warner Bros. If the project is ordered to series, Perry Mason would be Downey’s second TV series role. He played Larry Paul on Ally McBeal in 2000 and 2001, and returned for the final two episodes, 2002.
The original Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr, premiered in the fall of 1957 and ran for nine seasons before being cancelled by CBS in 1966. The cast also included: Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman, Ray Collins, Wesley Lau, Richard Anderson, Michael Fox, Lee Miller, and Connie Cezon. According to the report, Pizzolatto, Joe Horacek, Downey Jr., and Susan Downey, will executive produce the reboot.
Here is more on Robert Downey Jr.’s Perry Mason, from Variety:
Sources indicate the project will be a series, rather than a TV film, and that the project has been gestating at HBO since as early as May.
[…]
Downey Jr. has wanted to do some sort of “Perry Mason” project for some time, having originally set it up at Warner Bros. as a film back in 2011. The film never found its footing and after his other lawyer-driven pic “The Judge” had mixed results at the box office, the studio and Team Downey thought that television was a better platform for it. […]
With a third season of “True Detective” still in flux, this potential series keeps Pizzolatto in the HBO fold with a new high-profile project, given his recent overall deal with the premium cabler, which lasts through 2018.
For Downey Jr., the project not only marks his big foray into TV on the screen, but also as a TV producer. The “Iron Man” star put a drama into development with Showtime in 2014, though it never come to fruition.
What do you think? Are you a Robert Downey Jr. fan? Would you watch him in a reboot of the Perry Mason TV series? Let us know, below.
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