‘Goodfellas’ Scribe Developing Showtime Series About Mafia’s First Family!!

Has Showtime stumbled upon the next Sopranos? The network is developing an hourlong drama series about the Mafia’s first family that will explore the history of organized crime in America.

The untitled series hails from Goodfellas scribe Nicholas Pileggi, Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter and power producer Brian Grazer, whose Imagine Television Studios will produce alongside Showtime. All three men will serve as executive producers, as will Imagine TV’s Samie Kim Falvey.

Deadline broke the news, reporting that the show is “inspired by Pileggi’s in-depth chronology of organized crime in America — which is also the history of corruption in America — as seen through the eyes of the mafia’s First Family.”

There are few details to go on beyond that, but Pileggi and Winter make a hell of a one-two punch, as both writers seem to excel when it comes to “tough guy talk.” Now, The Sopranos is the greatest hourlong drama series of all time, in my opinion, so it’s probably unfair for me to draw early comparisons like this based on a simple logline, as I’m sure these guys don’t need any more pressure while wading into these crowded waters. They know where the bar is set, because they both helped set it. But even if this Showtime series doesn’t ascend to such heights in the pantheon of television, it sure sounds like appointment viewing to me.

After all, Pileggi is the former journalist who co-wrote Goodfellas and Casino with Martin Scorsese, as well as the books those films were based on. Pileggi also served as an executive producer on Scorsese’s The Irishman, as well as the Grazer-produced crime film American Gangster.

Meanwhile, Winter knows The Sopranos as well as anyone, having served as an Emmy-winning writer and executive producer on that series, which allowed him to go on to create his own HBO mob drama with Boardwalk Empire. He also co-created HBO’s rock ‘n roll drama Vinyl an Oscar nomination for writing Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Winter is currently writing a Gotham PD series for HBO Max set in the same cinematic world as Matt Reeves‘ The Batman feature.