"Luck" - David Milch/Michael Mann HBO series

[Jouster]

Ain't that something else?

Mann, Milch in 'Luck' with HBO
Mann to direct the hourlong pilot from 'Deadwood' scribe
By MICHAEL FLEMING

Michael Mann is in talks to direct "Luck," an hourlong HBO series pilot about horse racing culture created by David Milch.

Milch, who wrote the series pilot, last brought "John From Cincinnati" and "Deadwood" to HBO.

Milch will be exec producer, along with former HBO programming topper Carolyn Strauss and Mann. The plan is to shoot in April, most likely at Santa Anita Race Track.

Getting to the starting gate is a major achievement for Milch, who has seen horse racing from every angle, including owning close to 100 horses and winning several Breeders' Cup races.

"The pilot is about a bunch of intersecting lives in the world of horse racing," Milch told Daily Variety. "It's a subject which has engaged and some might say has compelled me for 50 years. I've joked that if I just can make $25 million on this show, I'll be even on research expenses. I find it as complicated and engaging a special world as any I've ever encountered, not only in what happens in the clubhouse and the grandstand, but also on the backside of the track, where the training is done and where they house the horses."

The lead character, not yet cast, is Ace Bernstein, whom Milch described as "a guy versed in all the permutations of finance, elicit and otherwise. When he is released from jail for securities violations, he resumes his place at the race track, where he is a figure of long-standing repute."

Mann, who is close to a deal to direct, sparked to the Milch script, and also from the feedback he got from Martin Scorsese and the experience he had directing the "Boardwalk Empire" pilot for HBO. Mann's last directing foray on the small screen was 1987's "L.A. Takedown," a precursor for Mann's crime-film classic "Heat." He and Milch have a long friendship that goes back to the days when Milch was running "Hill Street Blues" and Mann was doing the same with "Miami Vice."

Bonnie Timmerman, who often collaborates with Mann, will cast the series.

"I am feeling very lucky to have Michael direct this and am champing at the bit, to borrow a few horse racing phrases," Milch said.

[isoS]

It's a cream dream!

[suavepebble]

[Jouster]

Dustin Hoffman was cast as the lead. Dennis Farina and Josh Ortiz are in supporting roles.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryId=14&cs=1

[isoS]

jesus christ, this is going to be better than most movies! and there's no chance I'm getting my hopes up too high either.

[Jouster]

The casting definitely feels more Mann than Milch, but it seems like it can't lose with all of these huge names attached. I am stoked.

[mike]

It still revolves around horses who are racing though.

[nadsat droog]

You've got it all wrong. The horses are RACIST.

[Jouster]

Now goddamn Nick Nolte is in it. Amazing.

Also, I know it might be weird to post extensively about a pilot but with this talent I can't see it not going to series (and Milch himself has already claimed it will premiere in January of next year).

[orator]

Now goddamn Nick Nolte is in it. Amazing.

Also, I know it might be weird to post extensively about a pilot but with this talent I can't see it not going to series (and Milch himself has already claimed it will premiere in January of next year).

Where did you hear/see this?

Really looking forward to this. Deadwood is my favorite show of all time.

[Batman The Horse]

Remember that surfing show? How could this fail!?

(I liked that show.)

[Jouster]

Where did you hear/see this?

Really looking forward to this. Deadwood is my favorite show of all time.

Daily Racing Form. The exchange in question:

What is the timetable for when the show airs? We hope to go on the air in January of next year. We are going to start shooting in March. We'll shoot and then probably stop, fine tune, then go back. We'll be shooting at Santa Anita and then probably in Santa Clarita at the Autry Ranch, where we shot 'Deadwood.' Right now we're doing all the casting and BS. It's safer for me to write.

Also, the article about Richard Kind being added to the cast confirms:

Cabler is about to begin production for a 2011 launch.

I loved John from Cincinnati.

[nadsat droog]

I loved John from Cincinnati.

I think there are only like 12 of us.

[Jouster]

Interesting trivia: John from Cincinnati got more viewers than any episode of "Mad Men" ever has.

[isoS]

I think there are only like 12 of us.

The Apostles.

[andrearunge]

Mary Magdalene has joined the party. I loved the surfing show, too.
Deadwood was/is my favorite thing ever.

[orator]

JfC wasn't my thing at all, but I think it gets a lot of unfair hate. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with people thinking Deadwood was canceled for it. It might have, but who knows except Milch and those HBO execs. There's like 50 different versions of why it was canceled.

I'm also curious about what Milch's original version of JfC was. He said he was planning a show about a junkie in New York for a long time and then he pitched it to HBO and the execs went, "Hey, all that stuff sounds good. But how about we make it about surfing?"

[drbristol]

You know this show can't happen until Ricky Jay joins the cast as a man who might not be who he appears to be.

[priceyeah]

I'm skeptical of that surfing explanation, because Milch and Kem Nunn collaborated, and Nunn's whole deal is "surf noir" novels. Of course, maybe HBO pushed Nunn into the project, over Milch's objections.

JfC was interesting, but maaaaan, that Deadwood style of dialogue really, really, really didn't work in contemporary California. For my $0.02.

Hmmm.... Wikipedia confirms that it got pretty good ratings, even at the end. So maybe it was unfairly axed. I'm always interested in a Milch series, so I'm rooting for this to be awesome.

[isoS]

HBO doesn't necessarily care about ratings -- they don't need 'em for advertisers -- they just want shows that people talk about and rave about. People talked about JfC, but the raving, not so much. And the critics turned against it, which is the kiss of death for HBO -- they live and die by critical acclaim when it comes to their dramatic series.