As the first season of Perry Mason comes to a close on HBO, Robert Downey Jr. has set up a new detective series at Apple, which has given the project a straight-to-series order. The show hails from Adam Perlman (Billions) and Team Downey, the production company operated by Robert and Susan Downey, which will produce alongside Apple Studios.
Based on true events outlined in Michael Lista‘s Toronto Life article “The Sting,” the drama series follows a frustrated Canadian detective who takes on a decades-old cold case in hopes of winning a confession and becoming a hero. The case quickly spirals out of control when the undercover cop attempts an elaborate sting and strikes up an unexpected friendship with the peculiar target.
Downey Jr. won’t play the Canadian cop, though he is expected to tackle a supporting role. He’ll also executive produce alongside Perlman, Susan Downey and Team Downey’s Amanda Burrell, while Lista will serve as a co-executive producer.
Team Downey recently produced Universal’s box office flop Dolittle — featuring jokes from Seth Rogen! — and the company is currently prepping Scott Cooper‘s psychological thriller A Head Full of Ghosts, which will star Margaret Qualley from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. On the TV side, Team Downey recently produced Perry Mason, which has been renewed for a second season, and the company will soon start production on the Netflix series Sweet Tooth, based on the comic book from DC’s Vertigo imprint.
Perlman is a former attorney who spent four years on Billions, rising up to become an executive producer on the most recent season. Before that, he wrote on The Newsroom and The Good Wife. On the feature side, he penned the Black List script Septillion-to-One, which has Mark Romanek attached to direct. Perlman also recently adapted the Sports Illustrated article “This Hockey Mogul Was 17. Got a Problem With That?” into the feature The Trashers.
Downey’s detective series joins Apple’s slate of original shows, which also includes the limited series Masters of the Air from executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
via Collider