Robert De Niro returns to his gangster roots for… | Little White Lies

Robert De Niro returns to his gang­ster roots for the small screen

09 Nov 2016

Words by Rebecca Speare-Cole

A man in a dark suit and coat stands on a city street, with buildings and people in the background.
A man in a dark suit and coat stands on a city street, with buildings and people in the background.
David O Rus­sell will write and direct a new TV series co-star­ring Julianne Moore.

Back in August 2016, a project bring­ing togeth­er the tal­ents of David O Rus­sell, Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore was being pitched by fine folks at the Wein­stein Com­pa­ny. How­ev­er, this was not anoth­er bit of Rus­sell awards bait, but a gigan­tic deal for a new TV series – a deal which, accord­ing to Dead­line, Ama­zon has just land­ed. Prime Instant Video will be home to at least two sea­sons of a yet-to-be-named show, hav­ing signed off on a mas­sive $160 mil­lion com­mit­ment. (Not to men­tion the fact that De Niro has report­ed­ly joined for a whoop­ing $850,000 pay­check per episode.)

The five-time Oscar-nom­i­nee is set to write and direct both sea­sons, con­sist­ing of eight episodes each. What’s more, we are very excit­ed to see that this will also mark the first time the Anna­pur­na Pic­tures super-pro­duc­er, Megan Elli­son, has ven­tured into TV land. So far, Elli­son has had an incred­i­ble track record with films like Fox­catch­er and Zero Dark Thir­ty on her resume. She has also worked with Rus­sell twice, for Amer­i­can Hus­tle and Joy, so it will be intrigu­ing to wit­ness her tran­si­tion to the small screen.

Get more Lit­tle White Lies

Lit­tle else is known about the project at this point, but the show is now report­ed­ly a mafia crime series, hav­ing ini­tial­ly been described as a 1990’s‑set cop thriller by Dead­line. One thing’s for sure: it’ll be nice to see De Niro slink­ing back into the gang­ster groove he coined in films like Good­fel­las or The God­fa­ther: Part II.

You might like

M3gan in a beige outfit standing in dimly lit room with lamps.
Review

M3gan 2.0 review – a silly sequel shooting for action grandeur

by Kambole Campbell

The bot is back in this wink­ing AI-themed caper movie which goes all out to expand the lore of the M3GAN universe. 

2
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
A man in a tuxedo holding a drink and standing on a pebble beach, with a stormy sea and cloudy sky in the background.
Journeys

Peter Cushing lives forever in Whitstable

by Sarah Morgan

Thir­ty-one years after his death, the hor­ror vet­er­an remains as pop­u­lar as ever, as a very spe­cial trip to his sea­side home revealed.
Two people with the Sudanese flag painted on their face at a night-time event, with colourful lights and a crowd visible in the background.
Review

Sudan, Remember Us review – extremely powerful stuff

by Leila Latif

Hind Meddeb’s doc­u­men­tary poignant­ly cap­tures the activist spir­it of post-rev­o­lu­tion Sudan.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two people playing sitting at a table, bottle of drink on the table, warm lighting from window.
Review

From Hilde, With Love review – too staid to make an impact

by Laura Venning

Andreas Dresen’s Nazi Ger­many-set biopic on resis­tance fight­ers Hilde and Hans Cop­pi fails to do their sto­ry justice.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
A group of teenage girls sit on a roof in the sunshine, laughing and smiling.
Hard Craft

Who gets to be on the big screen?

by Emily Maskell

Cast­ing direc­tor Lucy Pardee lifts the lid on her lat­est project, Lol­lipop, and work­ing in the cast­ing industry. 
A geometric illustration with bold, warm colours - oranges, reds and browns. Figures are depicted in angular shapes against a checkerboard floor and abstract architectural structures.
Partnership

The Existential Chic of La Notte

by Pamela Hutchinson

Michelan­ge­lo Antonioni’s Milanese mar­i­tal dra­ma uses sleek, geo­met­ric com­po­si­tions to reflect the mod­ernist cou­ple and the city at its centre.