Sylvester Stallone Starring In ‘Omerta,’ TV Series Based On ‘Godfather’ Author’s Last Novel
Sylvester Stallone’s Omerta could be the next big TV series, having come from the proverbial pen of famed author Mario Puzo. If you don’t know who that is, he’s the writer whose work inspired Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.
Antoine Fuqua has been tapped to direct the upcoming gangster series. The filmmaker’s previous credits include Olympus Has Fallen, Training Day, Shooter, and the upcoming The Magnificent Seven. Sylvester Stallone will be playing the lead role as Raymonde Aprile, the last great American Don as he prepares a successor in his nephew Astorre Viola. With its parallel to AMC’s mega-hit Breaking Bad, this could be the series disgruntled fans turn to after The Walking Dead‘s shocking Season 6 finale.
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The Netflix hit Daredevil might be the greatest rival to Sylvester Stallone’s Omerta, as the Rocky actor will need to make his presence felt after Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance as Wilson Fisk. A pilot script and bible have already been prepared by Justin Herber and Adam Hoff, and writers are still being rounded up to make this the show to watch as everything comes together quickly.
In an industry where not a lot of original ideas are left to cover, the resurgence of a story about an Italian mob boss may just tap into the nostalgia from The Godfather and Goodfellas. Being from the same writer as the former, it has potential, as Mario Puzo has shown his writing chops with a collection of novels, including The Last Don, The Sicilian, and The Dark Arena.
Sylvester Stallone could bring new life into his career with Omerta, as he has never been a regular TV star, and he seems to have exhausted his stay in the cinema. After Rocky, The Expendables 3, and Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2, it’s been said that the “Italian stallion” will be leaving the film industry. This could easily be a great move, as TV is where Bryan Cranston earned his fame playing Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who becomes a drug kingpin in New Mexico.
It’s unknown who will host the new show, as the series will come as a package looking for a commitment soon. AMC might have their hands full with Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead, and the spin-off Fear the Walking Dead. HBO seems to be content with Game of Thrones. Marvel, Netflix, and the CW seem to be capitalizing on shows based on lesser known comic book characters. Amazon might snap it up as their first major draw in an industry which hasn’t seen a gangster TV series with that kind of merit in a while.
Sylvester Stallone To Make TV Debut With New Mafia Series #Omerta – https://t.co/MPHrh3mK2G pic.twitter.com/QRLwsyVfRG
— We Got This Covered (@wgtc_site) April 28, 2016
Sylvester Stallone’s Omerta had once been considered for a new movie. After several attempts to convert the story into a format for something with up to a three-hour run-time, it was decided that Mario Puzo’s novel worked better as a TV series. Apparently, Hollywood learned its lesson after Star Trek: The Motion Picture turned what was basically a TV episode into a full-length feature by adding tons of visual imagery and killing the momentum.
Much like Rocky and The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone will be executive producing Omerta alongside Antoine Fuqua, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and David Glasser. Further details should be revealed soon.
