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Kevin Spacey has come on board to star in and executive produce David Fincher's drama series project for indie producer Media Rights Capital, House of Cards, marking a reunion of The Social Network director Fincher and executive producer Spacey. In his TV directorial debut, Fincher will direct the pilot for the project, based on the book and British miniseries of the same name. He will executive produce with Eric Roth, writer of Fincher's previous movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Joshua Donen as well as Spacey and his producing partner at Trigger Street Prods. Dana Brunetti.The political-thriller novel House of Cards, written by Michael Dobbs, former Conservative Party chief of staff, is set at the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as prime minister and follows a British politician with his eye on the top job. In 1990, it was adapted by the BBC as a miniseries written by Andrew Davies and starring Ian Richardson. It went on to win a BAFTA award for Richardson and an Emmy for Davies.
Fincher's adaptation, set in the U.S., was written by playwright/screenwriter Beau Willimon (The Ides of March). The project is yet to be taken out to TV networks. Spacey was most recently attached to The Crux, a drama project for HBO written by Rod Lurie.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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“you might think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment”
Love Spacey as dark, warped villains most of all (Usual Suspects, Seven) — Spacey is a strong choice no Ian Richardson.
How Spacey gonna seduce ladies in this series? No haps. No lady wants to “call him Daddy.”
It’s too mature & insightful a project for American TV. Broke my heart that Ian was in B.A.P.S. with Halle Berry but his stateside career never went farther before he died.
American Cable television is superior to anything the brits have put out.
As my Mama says, “All these blue, green & orange sports drinks done made folks go totally crazy.” You’re pulling my leg, right?
Shout out to Herb Scannell at BBC America. Their library is worth more than all of the best of AMC, A&E & Showtime put together. (Old HBO may add up to something evergreen — I’ll allow you that much.)
Too “mature an insightful a project for American television?” Gee, it is like somebody has been living under a rock and hasn’t even heard of HBO or AMC. Since the original British BBC adaptations (there were three House of Cards mini-series), the UK TV industry has changed a lot for the worse, and this sort of project is now much more tenable on American TV (cable, at least) than on British TV.
“This sort of project is now more tenable on American TV”…
Except the Kennedy project got snuffed, Prime Suspect on NBC can’t get on its legs, and what was that unwatchable political drama AMC had that it died on the vine? — “Rubicon.”
I’d rather watch old PBS broadcast British dramas on Youtube than any of this American cable pathos-bathos amateur, no-balls crap jacuzzi.
But I still love “The Sopranos” — so there’s one in your column.
Now get back to your Xanax-Vicodin-Soma-klonapin induced mellow — cuz Oprah’s comin’ on.
Most of your spew is not worth replying to, or is unintelligible (Oprah? What?), but the irony of your calling the admirable Rubicon “unwatchable” is obviously lost on you. It resembled 1970’s British TV’s excellent Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a slow-paced, cerebral spy drama that could never be made by today’s BBC, as it was culturally elitist, and the BBC nowadays is all about justifying the “license fee” by appealing to the widest possible audience. Which of course puts the BBC in much the same position as any of America’s broadcast networks, and that’s a shame. It is now only a few US cable channels that take the position that they don’t care about appealing to the masses as long as they capture the hearts of the more discriminating viewer.
If he’s doing the Richardson role he’s smarmy enough, but I’d rather watch the original.
MORE brain dead remakes from Brain dead Hollywood. Never come close to the minor genius of the original, nor will anyone care.
Directing the pilot will be a cinch for Fincher but there’s no way he could direct a weekly episode given how many takes he does.
No, you don’t get the new trend. Hire a premier, top-flight, world-famous, unassailable movie director (uh, Martin Scorsese) to direct the pilot (like, “Boardwalk Empire”). This helps gets distribution and great initial press reviews, and then they step back and allow the day-to-day TV directors to take the remainder of the schedule. I’m guessing that Scorsese gets some sort of long-term participation for his help in getting the series up on its legs. What is it worth to get a show on air on a network with the balls (and sophisticated subscriber base) to launch a show that runs for 3-5 years? Priceless.
What is MRC?
Joe Hipps is totally in the biz…
Hipps has magic in his fingertips.
WINNING.
Spacey is huge get for TV! This explains why I saw Joe Hipps at Burke Williams negotiating for a frontal.
Hows that movie career going, Kevin my boy? Ever since you went on your liberal rants, it hasnt been happening lately for ye, eh? Great actor though!
There’s always some jack ass that’s got to throw politics into EVERYTHING. Most of Hollywood’s liberal, so I’m sure his “rants”, as you call them, didn’t damage the man a bit. He’s a great actor and as far as his movie career goes… Horrible Bosses, Inseparable, Chuck and Margin Call have yet to come out. Seems like he’s doing just fine. Save the political BS for your Fox News message boards and the conversations you have with your Rush Limbaugh doll.
what the fuck does his “liberal rants” have to do with anything? I don’t even think of him as political. brutony = idiot.
“Liberal rants”? What rants? What did he say, exactly? I don’t remember Spacey ranting about anything.
Take a bow, Joe Hipps, for putting this all together, and order TWO Godmothers from Bay Cities tonight — you’ve earned them!
Wally – aside from Charlie Sheen himself, nobody has been churning out such consistently strong work. I want to offer you a blind deal. Call me.
This is gonna be tough to match. Ian Richardson was really good in that role. The first film was quite good, but the others, were just okay.
Perfect. Just what dave needs, another re-make.
Just curious…. Who the hell is Joe Hipps and why are people always commenting on him?
Larry, you reveal your general ignorance with a comment like that.
The run Joe Hipps is on is making everyone else look like droopy eyed, armless children.
WINNING.
I’ll watch it. but i’d watch spacey wear a brown paper bag! he rules!
How is no one giving Asif Satchu credit for landing this deal? I mean… the guy made a million dollars!
Take that victory lap kiddo, you earned it.
MRC is basically a company that finances projects for WME (aka Endeavor) clients that no studio will risk betting on and then the studio agrees to distribute these projects because they can charge MRC a healthy distribution fee and have no risk! Most of their projects in film and TV miss, but maybe this one won’t. Then again, maybe Santa Claus is real. The company was founded by a nerdy billionaire who wanted to be cool and play in the entertainment business and surely he’s going to lose his shirt in the end. So, MRC is just dumb money.
is there anybody in this entire package who is repped by wme? they all seem to be caa to me. get a job, you hack.
This sounds like a project that would be perfect for Showtime!
I loved Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. And The Shipping News! But I don’t find him remotely appealing on a certain lady level. I guess I would be willing to commit to an intellectual realtionship with his work/role in this particular project. We middle aged women would like nothing more than to be inspired to watch the likes of such a great talent on a weekly basis. And he is middle aged. So, bring us some sex appeal, Kevin Spacey, for heaven sakes.
Hey Fincher, you didn’t get robbed.
June from Indiana,
There’s a very obvious reason you don’t feel the sex appeal from Kevin Spacey, but that’s neither here nor there…
Dear Know Nothing,
Regardless of anyone in this project is with CAA or not, MRC is still dumb money. I’ll get a job when you stop drinking the kool aid and come out of the shadow of what Relativity could do and MRC couldn’t, oh snap.
CAA put this together from top to bottom. They chased it for Spacey for 2 years. It’s a game changer for all involved.