From this:
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday September 25, 2013 @ 1:45pm PDT
EXCLUSIVE: HBO is carrying on James Gandolfini’s legacy with Criminal Justice. Oscar winner Robert De Niro has stepped in to take over the role originally played by the beloved Sopranos star in the pilot. De Niro is attached to act in Criminal Justice,a seven-hour miniseries, with Gandolfini remaining an executive producer posthumously. (HBO previously greenlighted Criminal Justice with Gandolfini as a seven-part limited series in May). Steven Zaillian, who has been shepherding the project for over four years, is set to direct the first hour. Richard Price wrote Criminal Justice based on the BBC series created by Peter Moffat. On the mini, produced by HBO in association with BBC Worldwide Prods., Film Rites and Tribeca Films, De Niro joins originally cast Riz Ahmed, Bill Camp, Payman Maadi and Poorna Jagannathan. Production is eyed to begin in March.
It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of Gandolfini’s untimely June death in Rome whether HBO would proceed with Criminal Justice. But because Gandolfini had been so committed and passionate about the project, which he was getting ready to start filming upon his return from Rome, the network and Zaillian began exploring ways to do Criminal Justice in his honor. The New York crime story centers on an ambulance-chasing New York City attorney, the role originally played by Gandolfini, who gets in over-his-head when he takes on the case of a Pakistani (Ahmed) accused of murdering a girl on the Upper West Side. While the lawyer part is central to the overall story, in the pilot the character only appears in the final scene. That led to discussions between HBO and Zaillian about recasting the part, not an easy task as I hear the network and Zaillian were looking for a great actor whom Gandolfini would have wanted for the role and who would honor Gandolfini’s memory with his performance. I hear their list consisted of one name only, Robert De Niro, who responded and came on board.
Criminal Justice is executive produced by Gandolfini, Zaillian, Price, Moffat, BBC Worldwide’s Jane Tranter and Tribeca’s Jane Rosenthal, with Film Rites’ Garrett Basch and Attaboy’s Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders serving as co-executive producers and Berry Welsh as co-producer.
Amico intimo di Gandolfini, De Niro subentra volentieri a sostituirlo dopo la sua improvvisa e scioccante morte, avvenuta pochi mesi fa. Prima che morisse, De Niro e Gandolfini anni fa dovevano interpretare assieme Scared Guys di Dean Parisot. Ma il progetto sfumò. Quindi, erano in trattative per Eating With the Enemy. Ma, sempre il decesso per infarto di Gandolfini, mise tutto naturalmente in discussione.
De Niro entra invece proprio in questo Criminal Justice.
Di Criminal Justice era già stato girata la puntata pilota, ma il progetto è saltato per evidenti circostanze tragiche.
Però l’HBO, confidando molto nelle potenzialità dello script soprattutto, non ha mollato affinché riparta tutto daccapo.
In cabina di regia Steve(n) Zaillian e la miniserie si avvarrà di sette episodi, incentrati sull’avvocato Jack Stone (De Niro), un accanito difensore delle ingiustizie che prenderà a Cuore la controversa causa di un giovane pakistano accusato di aver assassinato una ragazza dell’Upper West Side.
Le riprese inizieranno a Marzo e il nome di Gandolfini, secondo volere dei familiari e anche a quanto pare del suo testamento, comparirà in “veste” di produttore esecutivo.
Secondo me, De Niro è la persona giusta per celebrare come meglio non si poteva il grande James.
(Stefano Falotico)
