A Gangs of New York TV adaptation will reportedly be pitched around to both premium and streaming networks by Miramax Television. The first two episodes of the series will be directed by Martin Scorsese, who also produced the 2002 Oscar-nominated film version of Gangs of New York. Additionally contributing as a writer to the project is playwright and television writer Brett Leonard. In November, purchasers will be introduced to the show.
The Gangs of New York, a non-fiction book written by Herbert Asbury in 1927, served as the basis for both the future television series and the 2002 movie, which both focused on competing gangs in the middle to late 1800s. According to numerous reports, neither the events of the 2002 movie nor any of the roles played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, or Cameron Diaz will be followed in the series. In addition to directing the series, Scorsese will also serve as executive producer alongside Leonard, Rick Yorn, and Chris Donnelly.
Scorsese was working on a different Gangs of New York television adaptation in 2013. The criminality and gangs that occurred in other places like Chicago and New Orleans during the 1800s would have been covered in that series. When the unproduced adaptation was first announced, Scorsese discussed Gangs of New York being a television series, saying, “This time and era of America’s history and heritage is rich with characters and stories that we could not fully explore in a two-hour film. A television series allows us the time and creative freedom to bring this colorful world, and all the implications it had and still does on our society, to life.”
Scorsese is known for producing timeless films like The Wolf of Wall Street, Casino, Goodfellas, and Taxi Driver. This year’s New York Film Festival just saw the world debut of David Tedeschi and Martin Scorsese’s most recent documentary, Personality Crisis: One Night Only. The television adaptation of Gangs of New York, which is now under production, has few other specifics.