Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are teaming up for what could be one of the most exciting drama series in recent memory.  The two are set to star in the eight-episode first season of True Detective, with Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre director Cary Fukunaga onboard to helm all eight episodes.  The show is described as an “elevated serial narrative” that uses multiple perspectives and time frames.  Harrelson and McConaughey will star as two detectives “whose lives collide and entwine during a seventeen-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with testimony from the detectives in 2012, when the case has been reopened.”  Hit the jump for more on the project, including how long Harrelson and McConaughey plan on sticking around.

Per Deadline, the concept for the show is to resolve the mystery at hand at the end of the first season, with subsequent seasons utilizing the same structure but with different characters and story (not unlike the anthology approach to American Horror Story).  I maintain that we’re living during a Golden Age of television, and the storytelling approach to True Detective sounds like it will fit in perfectly.

Beyond the fact that a Harrelson/McConaughey cop drama sounds bad ass, Fukunaga is an incredibly promising young director.  He’s already proven that his visual and character-centric prowess transcends genre by going from the violence-heavy Sin Nombre to the Gothic romance drama Jane Eyre (and executing both to great success), and I can’t wait to see him put his stamp on the “cop drama” genre.

Producers are currently shopping the project, written by Nic Pizzolatto (The Killing), to the cable networks, and I’m selfishly hoping it lands on HBO.  Though the network definitely has a ton of successful series already on its plate (with many more to come), the premium channel allows for an enormous amount of creative freedom that I think would give Fukunaga the room to flourish creatively. The director is also attached to direct the Civil War heist pic No Blood, No Guts, No Glory, but it's unclear when they’re planning on shooting True Detective.  If you haven’t seen Sin Nombre, it’s currently available on Netflix Instant Watch and I highly suggest you check it out.  Hopefully we hear more on True Detective soon.