Showtime is going all the way with American Gigolo.
The premium cabler on Tuesday announced that it has picked up its in-the-works small screen reboot of the 1980 movie to series. The order is for 10 episodes.
As previously reported, the new, present-day iteration finds Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal filling Richard Gere’s iconic shoes as high-end male escort Julian Kaye.
Bernthal’s Julian (check him out above via the first look photo from the pilot) will be introduced 18 years after he’s been arrested for murder and struggling to find his footing in the modern-day Los Angeles sex industry, while seeking the truth about the set-up that sent him to prison all those years ago and also hoping to reconnect with Michelle (played by Boardwalk Empire vet Gretchen Mol), his one true love.
The cast also includes Rosie O’Donnell as homicide Detective Sunday, Lizzie Brocheré as sex work ring heiress Isabelle, Gabriel LaBelle as a younger version of Julian named Johnny, Leland Orser as Richard Stratton, a self-made tech billionaire, and Wayne Brady as Lorenzo, Julian’s best friend and mentor.
Ray Donovan auteur David Hollander serves as writer/director/showrunner. Hollander will serve as an EP alongside Jerry Bruckheimer (who produced the original film), Jonathan Littman and KristieAnne Reed.
“If you haven’t already fallen under the spell of Jon Bernthal, get ready,” said Showtime president Gary Levine in a statement. “Jon absolutely owns the screen with his searing, brooding and vulnerable performance in this contemporary version of American Gigolo. David Hollander brilliantly reimagines the seductive original film, confronting the mystery, the exhilaration and the danger of our deepest desires.”
