AMC Networks
opens a
writers room for
Michael B. Jordan’s
Windy City series,
“61st Street”
Here’s potential good news for the Chicago production community. According to The Wrap, AMC Networks has opened a writers room (sorry Chicago writers, the rooms are in LA) for Michael B. Jordan’s 61st Street, a “murder mystery” that dives into the murky depths of systemic racism in the court system.
Peter Moffett, who wrote the British drama Criminal Justice, which HBO adapted into The Night of, is reported to serve as showrunner and Exec Producer alongside the Black Panther and Creed star.
First announced at the 2019 Television Critics Association press tour, the series is about a promising high school athlete named Moses Johnson who is mistaken by Chicago PD as a gang member, is arrested and becomes an unwillingly participant in the notorious Chicago criminal justice system. The stakes in Johnson’s case are even higher as police and prosecutors are seeking revenge for the death of an officer.
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David Madden, president of Programming for AMC Network and AMC Studios told The Wrap in an interview:
“Peter justly won acclaim for Criminal Justice, the British thriller which was remade by HBO as The Night Of, and in this case he’s partnered with extraordinary producers, the Outlier Society team of Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo. This is an emotional and audacious piece of drama that is as timely as television gets, and we are excited to put it into a writers’ room and see where the team takes it.”
It remains to be seen if the series will actually be shot on location ala Showtime’s The Chi or if the city will be used for exteriors ala Warner Bros’ Shameless.
Source: The Wrap
