Matthews Rhys (The Americans) has signed on to star in HBO‘s upcoming limited series, Perry Mason, a remake of the long-running legal drama that formerly starred Raymond Burr.
This update will reportedly serve as somewhat of an origin story for the titular defence attorney, as he is forced to navigate 1930s Los Angeles as a private investigator. He is also, per Deadline, “haunted by his wartime experiences in France and is suffering the effects of a broken marriage”.
The show will be written and executive-produced by Rolin Jones (The Exorcist) and Ron Fitzgerald (Westworld), who will also serve as showrunner. Robert Downey Jr. is also on board as a producer, and was originally set to play the lead himself back in 2016 when True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto was writing the project.
Unfortunately, Downey Jr’s film commitments and Pizzolatto’s renewed focus in penning the third season of True Detective led HBO to go in a different direction, before eventually setting their sights on Rhys, who just won his first Emmy for his work in season 6 of The Americans.
The show is set to go into production – as soon as HBO finds a director for the project. Considering the names the American network has been able to find for other shows (such as Jeremy Saulnier and Cary Fukunaga during different seasons of True Detective), it will be fascinating to see who they can get on board for Perry Mason.
#Peace.Love.PerryMason
