HBO love a project with a bit of gravitas; a sense that they are shedding some light on something that needs to be in the spotlight. This could be women and their sex lives a la Sex and the City, modern day gay relationships which they portrayed in Looking or prohibition America as seen in Boardwalk Empire. Their next project, titled Open City, looks set to follow in these footsteps and will focus on the turbulent gay rights revolution of 1960’s New York City. The drama will explore characters from all corners of Manhattan as they navigate the cultural revolutions and political turmoil of the era and the unlikely alliance between the Mafia and the city’s gay community in the opening of a West Village nightclub.
We can hear the questions now; who’s Adam Shankman and why is he a big deal? Well here’s a potted history: he’s directed romcoms A WALK TO REMEMBER (our ultimate guilty pleasure) and THE WEDDING PLANNER, musicals HAIRSPRAY and ROCK OF AGES and has also directed episodes of Glee. On most projects he also serves as an executive producer and he will be taking on this dual role again for Open City.
The script is being written by David Kajganich, a relatively new writer who has several upcoming feature projects due for release including FBI drama TRUE STORY starring James Franco and Jonah Hill and the Tilda Swinton/Ralph Fiennes-helmed film from I AM LOVE director Luca Guadagnino.
HBO’s latest drama to hit our screens, The Normal Heart, has gone down a storm in the US drawing 1.4 million viewers on airing a few days ago. It premiers on UK screens on Sunday on Sky Atlantic and if the trailer is anything to go by we can see why. Bring on Open City is all we can say!
Source: THR
