Armie Hammer has signed on to star in a limited series for a streaming company that doesn’t yet exist. At least, sort of. ViacomCBS have streaming platform Paramount+ (always with the +’s!) in the works, but it’s technically just going to be a rebrand of CBS All Access and be introduced to worldwide markets.
Either way, they have hired Hammer to star in The Offer, a 10-episode limited series about the making of The Godfather. Hammer will play Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy. The show hails from Michael Tolkin, recently Emmy nominated for his work on Escape From Dannemora, and who also chronicled the inside of Hollywood in Robert Altman‘s The Player, which earned him an Oscar nom.
If you’re thinking a piece of content about the making of The Godfather sounds familiar, you’d be right. It was only recently that Jake Gyllenhaal and Oscar Isaac signed on to star in Francis & The Godfather, a film about the making of the 1974 classic. These will likely be somewhat similar, except with Hammer’s as a longer series.
This tactic of making a film or show about a classic film or show is a new one that allows studios to make content that sounds original, but is really just built on the backs of previous films that already have their own built-in audience. Who doesn’t love The Godfather? Ben Affleck is doing something similar, making a film about the making of Chinatown.
It would be a sort of sacrilege to actually remake these films, so studios are doing the next best thing and making films about making them. It’s kind of a remake without actually being one. Keep your eyes peeled for more of these sorts of projects over the coming year.
Hammer was recently seen starring in Netflix’s Rebecca – Ben Wheatley‘s version of the classic novel, but mostly a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock film – and will next be seen in Kenneth Branagh‘s Death On The Nile – a remake. Sensing a pattern here?
To be fair to Hammer, he also has some interesting projects lined up, such as Taika Waititi‘s Next Goal Wins (technically a remake of the documentary of the same name, but I’ll stop now), Nicholas Jarecki‘s opioid drama Dreamland, Shotgun Wedding alongside Jennifer Lopez, and Amma Asante‘s The Billion Dollar Spy.
He will also star in Sam Esmail‘s upcoming Watergate series Gaslit alongside Sean Penn and Julia Roberts, and will return to the stage in 2022 for Tracy Letts‘ play The Minutes. He’s a busy man!
#Peace.Love.TheOffer
