Even if “Gangs Of New York” is not one of the best films by master director Martin Scorsese (“GoodFellas”, “The Wolf Of Wall Street”), the historical epic is still a visually stunning experience through and through, with sometimes merciless brute force shows how the new America was founded in the 19th century. The whole thing was then refined by an absolute cream cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and John C. Reilly were also part of the party.
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As has now been announced, Miramax Television is working on a series adaptation of “Gangs Of New York”, which goes back to Herbert Asbury’s crime history non-fiction book of the same name. Martin Scorsese is set to direct and serve as executive producer for the first two episodes. Brett Leonard (“Shantaram”) is writing the script. As various sources report, the series is not related to the 2002 film. This means that the characters of DiCaprio, Day-Lewis, Diaz and Co. will not appear in the series.
Martin Scorsese announced nine years ago that another Gangs Of New York series was in development. However, nothing came of it. Part of the reason Scorsese continues to find a series about 19th-century New York underworld so interesting is that artistic differences arose in the making of Gangs Of New York. Scorsese actually wanted to put together an epic that lasted more than four hours, but the then Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein had something against it.
Martin Scorsese also explained the sense of a “Gangs Of New York” series at the time as follows: “This time and era in America’s history and heritage is rich in characters and narratives that we couldn’t fully explore in a two-hour film. A television series gives us the time and creative freedom to bring this colorful world to life with all its impact on our society.”
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