While Alfonso Cuaron’s next film Roma is in the can and on track to hit theaters sometime next year, it appears he’s already prepping his next project and he’s going where many talented, Oscar-winning filmmakers are going as well: to television. Yes indeed, Deadline reports that the Gravity director is teaming up with Casey Affleck for a horror drama series that tracks the origins of a cult. Specific details are entirely under wraps, but Cuaron is writing, directing, and executive producing the untitled TV series while Affleck will star and executive produce.
The project is currently being pitched to pay cable and streaming outlets by Anonymous Content, and as you can imagine it’s getting heavy interest from multiple networks. Amazon just dropped David O. Russell’s pricey drama series in an effort to cut ties with The Weinstein Company, and the streaming giant is apparently on the lookout for “the next Game of Thrones,” so one imagines they’ll make a pretty hefty offer. But as a traditionalist myself, I’m kind of hoping this lands on HBO—that network is also quite literally looking for the next Game of Thrones, as the most popular show on television is currently shooting its final season.
Cuaron took his time finding his follow-up project to the incredibly ambitious Gravity, and he settled on a small-scale family drama set and shot in Mexico called Roma. The film is said to be somewhat experimental in technique, with Cuaron noting that he needs a lengthy post-production period to attend to some of the film’s specific quirks. Yeah it’s kind of a mystery at the moment, and it likely won’t be hitting theaters until next awards season. The visionary filmmaker ventured into television most recently with the short-lived 2014 series Believe, for which he served as creator and directed the pilot.
As for Affleck, the reigning Best Actor Oscar winner dipped his toe into TV waters before. He shot a few episodes of an ambitious HBO limited series called Lewis and Clark, about the famous explorers, but HBO shut production down due to creative differences and budget issues. The director and cinematographer subsequently left the project and it’s being reconceived with a new creative team and new cast.
It’s unclear when this untitled TV project would enter production. Affleck recently signed on to lead the Blumhouse indie Stoner for director Joe Wright and Cuaron no doubt has to complete post-production on Roma and then has press commitments when it comes release time. But this is an incredibly exciting prospect for one of the best directors working today, and I can’t wait to see what becomes of it.
